JORATI         BONAR  D.D. 


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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED    BY  HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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JTZA.  C^Zc^di0O  (TTL 


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V 


NOV  20  1931 


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HORATIUS  BONAR,  D.D 


H   fID  c  in  o  C  i  a  L 


N  E  W    V  O  R  K  : 
ROBERT   CARTER   &    BROTH! 
530  BROADWAY. 


1889. 


EDINBURGH  : 
PRINTED   BY  ANDREW  BROWN,   42   HANOVER  STREET. 


Contents. 


.    K.    H.    I.l'MiIF,    M.A.,    LIVERPOOL,  .  5 

[OH   i:y  THE  i.kv.   a.    N.   .-<  v.,    .  27 

rOM   11Y  the  1, IV.  j.    if,     loan,  ;h, 

MOM    r.Y    TBI    UV.    HORAT1U9   BONAR,    AI     EELSO 

(i837), S9 

MOM     BI     lilt     BEV,     HORATIUS    BONAR,    D.O.,    ai 

I  DIM!  I  i  OH  (18S7), 79 

•  •  11   1  i  ;  ;  am  D  i  v   1  :..    ;  0MA1  101   I  HI 

MEIT1MG    TO    CELEBRATE    HIS   JUM 

(5TM   APRIL   l888),   BUI  ....         87 

"  IN   Ml  Tl  SHALL   iia\  1  BY  BONAR, 

NOT!   ON    DR.    BONAR'S    PROPHETICAL   y: 

JOHN  JAMIE   BONAR,    D.D.,  1 95 

LIST  OP  WRITINGS  BT   DR.    BONAR, 103 

NOTE  CONCERNING   JOHN    BONAR,   MINISTER  OP  TORPHICHEN, 

AND  HIS  DESCENDANTS  WHO  WIR]     MINISTERS,      .  .  113 


Iboratius  Bonar,  2UD, 

Born  19th  December  1808. 

Ordained  Minister  of  the  North  Parish  (Church  of  Scot- 
land), Kelso,  30th  November  1837. 

Joined  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  18th  May  1843,  and 
continued  Minister  of  that  Church  at  Kelso. 

Admitted  Minister  of  the  Chalmers  Memorial  Church, 
Grange,  Edinburgh,  7th  June  1866. 

Chosen  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  1883. 

Died  31st  July  1889. 


S  c  r  in  o  n 


PREACHED  IN  THE  CHALMERS  MEMORIAL   CHURCH, 
GRANGEt  RDINBURGH%   ON  THE 

FORENOON  OF  SABBATB%    nth   AUGUST  . 
BY   THE 

REV.   R.    If.   LUX  DIE,    M.A.,    LIVER  1\ 


5  c  r  m  o  it 

By  the  RlT.  R.  II.  Lundie,  M.A.,  Liverpool. 

11  Then  Philip  went  dawn  to  the  city  of  Samaria,  an  .  Shrist 

unto  them." — ACTS  viii.  5. 

"David,  .  .  the  s-ueet  psalmist  of Israel."— 2  Sam.  .wiii.  1. 

UNDER  the  shadow  of  a  great  affliction  \vc  assemble 
in  the  house  of  God  this  day.  The  trusted  colleague, 
who  is  now  sole  pastor,  the  attached  elders,  deacons, 
and  members  of  the  I  of  one  whom 

they  loved,  and  whose  lips  [cd  many.  You  meet 
where  once  you  used  to  greet  his  pn  md  drink 

in  his  thoughts,  sorrowing  most  of  all  that  you  shall 

sec  his  face  no  more.      The  '  ;ch  in  measured 

accents  dealt  forth  its  solid   teaching,  which,  trumpet- 
like,  rang  through  this  church  in  earnest  warning, 
which,  in  tones  of  tenderness,  wooed  to  the  wa\ 
peace  and    pleasantness  the  old   and  the  young  who 
hung  upon  his  lip-;,  is  silent. 

•  I  am  not  to-day  t<>  dwell  on  parting  and  death. 
Hi  work  was  done,  his  warfare  was  accomplished; 
we  will  not  mourn  that  he  has  laid  his  weapons  down. 
The  weariness  of  long  pilgrimage  weighed  heavily 
upon  him  ;  we  will  not  mourn  that  God  has  given  him 
rest. 

Turn  we  rather  to  the  life  which  he  lived,  and  the 
work  which  by  God's  grace  he  accomplished. 

I  have  selected  two  texts  as  pointing  to  the  two 
great  lines  of  life  on  which  he  moved.  Like  Philip  he 
"preached    Christ";    like    David    he    was    a   "sweet 


8 

psalmist  of  Israel."  These  two  lines  were  distinct 
but  mutually  helpful.  The  ministry  of  the  truth  in 
word  and  in  song  was  the  life-work  to  which  God 
called  him,  and  for  which  he  was  singularly  furnished 
by  nature,  by  culture,  and  by  grace. 

He  preached  Christ,  not  doctrine  only,  but  mainly 
and  essentially  Christ,  a  personal  Saviour  and  a  living 
Friend.  The  preparation  for  this  service  began  early. 
Those  who  knew  him  best  and  longest  scarcely  re- 
member a  time  when  he  did  not  appear  to  be  under 
the  influence  of  Divine  things.  How  much  he  owed 
to  his  noble-minded  father,  who  was  taken  from  him 
comparatively  early,  and  to  his  gentle,  devoted,  beloved 
mother,  it  was  his  joy  to  tell.  Of  a  type  which  hardly 
survives  to  the  present  time,  she  comes  back  to  the 
memory  of  some  of  us,  seated  in  her  arm  chair,  beam- 
ing kindness  and  goodness  around  her,  the  saint,  the 
lady,  and  the  mother.  At  her  knee,  the  sons,  whose 
praise  is  in  all  the  churches,  learned  their  first,  perhaps 
their  most  abiding,  lessons  in  the  faith. 

Sprung  from  forefathers  honourable  and  pious,  and 
largely  clerical,  Horatius  Bonar  gives  enduring  record 
of  his  gratitude, — 

"  I  thank  Thee  for  a  holy  ancestry  ; 

I  bless  Thee  for  a  godly  parentage  ; 
For  seeds  of  truth  and  light  and  purity, 

Sown  in  this  heart  from  childhood's  earliest  age. 

For  word  and  church  and  watchful  ministry, 
The  beacon  and  the  tutor  and  the  guide  ; 

For  the  parental  hand  and  lip  and  eye, 

That  kept  me  far  from  snares  on  every  side. 

I  thank  Thee  for  a  true  and  noble  creed, 

For  wisdom,  poetry,  and  gentle  song  ; 
For  the  bright  flower  and  for  the  wayside  weed, 

The  friendship  of  the  kind  and  brave  and  strong. 


I  thank  the  love  that  kept  my  life  from  sin, 
Even  when  my  heart  was  far  from  God  am" 

That  gave  me,  for  a  life-time's  heritage, 
The  purities  of  unpolluted  youth." 

The  tenderness  of  his  love  to  his  mother  is  beau- 
tifully expressed  in  lines  written  on  his  arriving, 
through  the  delay  of  a  train,  just  too  late,  at  her 
death-bed, — 

"  Past  all  pain  f<>r  ^ 
Done  with  sick: 
Let  me  close  thine  eyes,  mother, 
ie  smooth  thy 
and  health  and  glad: 

These  thy  portion  n 

I.     me  pess  thy  hand,  mother, 

Let  me  ki>>  thy  \>i 

As  youth  advanced,  Horatius  B  >k  a  decided 

Stand  for  Christ  And,  with  his  strong  nature  and 
I  erful  will,  decision  had  its  meaning  and  it->  issues: 
Ik-   resoh  levote  his  life  to  the  service    of   the 

Master,  in   the    ministry  of  the  lent 

.  and  the  days  ofhis  earl)-  ministry,  were  marked 
Nation  with  a  group  of  men  from  his  own 
University  of  Edinburgh,  and  from  G  and  from 

Aberdeen, — men  of  deep  piety  and  of  promise  which 
has  not  been  disappointed.  Among  these,  besides  his 
brothers  John  and  Andrew,  were  Robert  Murray 
M'Cheyne,  William  Burns,  Robert  M'Donald,  Moody 
Stuart,  John  Milne,  Patrick  Miller,  and  A.  X.  Somer- 
ville,  who  is  to  preach  to  you  this  afternoon.  The 
rooms  of  some  of  these  young  men  became  consccr 
places,  through  the  meetings  that  were  held  in  them 
for  sacred  study  and  for  prayer.     Doubtless  Scotland 

-day  the  richer  for  the  prayers  of  that  devoted 
band.     In  his  early  years  Horatius  Bonar  owed  much 


10 

to  the  wise  and  evangelical  teaching  of  Dr.  Jones,  Dr. 
Gordon,  and  Dr.  John  Bruce,  all  of  Edinburgh. 

On  taking  license  as  a  preacher,  his  first  occupation 
was  mission  work  in  Leith,  in  connection  with  the 
church  of  Mr.  Lewis.  Two  youths  worked  under  him 
in  the  large  district  assigned  him — viz.,  his  brother 
Andrew  and  Dr.  Thomas  Smith — both  of  whom  stood 
with  us  by  the  grave  of  their  life-long  friend,  last 
Monday.  A  mission  hall  was  secured,  which  had 
previously  belonged  to  a  small  body  of  Roman 
Catholics.  The  young  preacher  tells  us  that  he  had 
scarcely  begun  his  first  service  in  it,  when  an 
infuriated  woman  entered,  shouting,  "  My  curse  and 
the  curse  of  God  be  upon  you ! "  But  the  curse 
causeless  cometh  not,  and  God's  blessing  rested  on  the 
work. 

In  November,  1837,  Horatius  Bonar  went  to  Kelso 
to  take  charge  of  a  new  church  there,  started  in  con- 
nection with  Dr.  Chalmers'  scheme  of  Church  Exten- 
sion. In  a  short  autobiographical  paper,  begun  with 
a  view  to  his  jubilee  celebration,  but  never  completed 
and  never  used,  we  have  his  own  account  of  the  com- 
mencement and  character  of  his  labours.  He  says : 
"  I  found  there  plenty  of  work,  plenty  of  workmen, 
and  plenty  of  sympathy, — zealous  elders,  zealous 
teachers,  and  zealous  friends.  The  key-note  which  I 
struck  was,  '  Ye  must  be  born  again ' ;  and  that  mes- 
sage found  its  way  into  many  hearts.  It  repelled 
some,  but  it  drew  many  together,  in  what  I  may  call 
the  bond  of  regeneration  ;  and  I  may  here  ask,  Do 
we,  with  sufficient  energy  and  point,  proclaim  that 
solemn  truth  with  which  our  Master's  ministry  began, 
and  without  which  all  religion  is  hollow  and  super- 
ficial ?     '  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 


II 

the  kingdom  of  God  ; '  and  may  not  the  feebleness  and 
want  of  success,  of  which  many  of  us  have  reason  to 
complain,  be  traced  to  a  lack  of  distinctness  and 
precision  in  our  announcement  of  this  momentous 
message?  Certainly  that  word  did  run,  and  was 
glorified."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  venerable 
servant  of  the  Lord  as  he  reviewed  the  work  of  half-a- 
ccntury. 

He  continues  :  "  Until  the  Disruption  came  I  had  no 
access  to  the  neighbouring  parishes,  but  after  that  I 
found  open  doors  and  open  cars  in  that  populous 
district  among  all  ranks  of  the  people.  Year  after 
year  the  work  grew,  and  the  people  flocked  to  hear." 
It  became  necessary  to  procure  assistance.  Two 
zealous  missionaries,  whom  he  styles  "the  Evangelists 
of  the  Borders,"  were  employed.  They  "  traversed  the 
three  counties  of  Roxburgh,  Berwick,  and  North- 
umberland with  blessed  success,  and  the  fruit  of  their 
labours  remains  to  this  day  all  over  these  Borders.  .  .  . 
Whole  villages"  were  "awakened,  besides  many  stray 
souls,  both  young  and  old,  gathered  into  the  Church 
of  God,  from  various  quarters.  .  .  .  Many  rebuffs  we 
got,  many  angry  letters,  many  threats  of  ecclesias- 
tical censure  ;  .  .  .  but  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  work 
went  on." 

Sylvester,  one  of  the  contemporaries  of  Baxter, 
speaks  thus  of  that  great  preacher  :  "  When  he  spoke 
of  weighty  soul-concerns  you  might  find  his  very  spirit 
drenched  therein."  So  was  it  with  Horatius  Bonar. 
He  believed,  and  therefore  spoke.  His  enunciation 
was  slow  and  solemn,  and  sometimes  the  emphasis  he 
laid  on  the  sinfulness  of  sin  and  the  peril  of  the 
impenitent  was  awful  and  overpowering.  Not  less 
was  his  presentation  of  grace  and  pardon  to  the  sinner 


12 

tender  and  winning.  His  ministry  was  one  of  intense 
reality  ;  none  could  fail  to  see  that  he  was  in  earnest. 
It  was  the  passion  of  his  life  to  win  souls,  and  largely 
did  God  grant  his  desires. 

A  refreshing  interruption  of  his  home  labours  was 
supplied  by  the  recurrence  of  the  Communion  seasons 
of  some  of  his  closest  friends,  in  which  he  statedly  took 
part.  The  congregations  of  his  two  brothers,  John 
and  Andrew,  counted  on  his  annual  visit  as  they 
counted  on  the  return  of  seed-time  or  of  harvest. 
These  were  seasons  of  great  profit  and  delight. 
People  from  all  the  country  round  would  flock  to  the 
quiet  Perthshire  parish  of  Collace,  where  his  brother 
Andrew  ministered.  There  was  at  that  time  a  strong 
thirst  for  the  gospel  and  a  spirit  of  earnest  inquiry. 
These  occasions  were  "feasts  of  fat  things  full  of 
marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined."  From 
such  animating  employ  and  fruitful  fellowship,  the 
brothers  returned  with  fresh  energy  to  their  work  at 
home.  Among  the  mourners  in  the  old  Canongate 
churchyard  last  Monday  was  one  thankful  soul  from 
Perthshire,  irresistibly  drawn  thither  by  the  dear 
memories  of  the  past,  who  had  often  had  her  vessel 
filled  at  such  Communion  seasons,  when  the  full- 
hearted  brothers  so  spake  that  many  believed. 
Whether  in  the  villages  around  Kelso,  or  in  his  more 
distant  Communion  visits,  like  Philip  in  the  city  of 
Samaria,  Horatius  Bonar  preached  Christ  unto  them. 
At  the  Kelso  Communions  his  services  were  lovingly 
reciprocated  by  his  brothers  and  friends.  On  these 
occasions  there  was  a  short  meeting  for  prayer,  at 
which  many  lingered,  after  the  evening  service,  "when," 
says  an  attached  old  member,  "  our  own  Dr.  Bonar 
and   the  other  two  Drs.  Bonar,  sometimes  all   three 


together  in  the  pulpit,  asked  for  a  special  parting 
blessing,  concluding  with  the  verse, — 

1  O  may  we  stand  before  the  Lamb, 
When  earth  and  seas  are  fled, 
And  hear  the  Judge  pronounce  our  name, 
With  blessings  un  our  head  ! ' 

I  used  to  wish  that  we  did  not  need  to  go  down  into 
the  world  again,  but  that  wc  might  go  straight  up  into 
heaven,  which  seemed  so  near."  Very  sacred  arc  such 
memories  in  the  hearts  of  many  who  u  remain  unto 
this  present,  but  some  are  fallen  asleep." 

His  ministry  to  the  young  was  all  through  life  a 
blessed  and  beautiful  part  of  his  work.  His  strong 
nature  seemed  to  draw  close  to  it,  as  if  for  shelter, 
weaker  and  dependent  natures.  They  felt  him  power- 
ful ;  to  them  at  least  he  was  not  stern,  as  he  could 
sometimes  be  to  men  whose  views  or  conduct  he  dis- 
approved His  .sermons  to  the  young  were  peculiarly 
attractive.  Their  presence  threw  a  special  Liveliness 
info  i  his  manner,  and  stimulated  to  m<  >rc  rapid  utterance 
than  was  his  wont.  Both  in  Kelso  and  in  Edinburgh, 
as  long  as  strength  was  given  him,  crowded  audiences 
of  the  young  flocked  to  hear  him.  While  they  were 
moling  in  the  church,  he  would  move  kindly  up 

and  down  among  them,  to  welcome  them  and  see  that 
they  were  comfortably  seated.  In  reading  Scripture 
he  would  pause  and  ask  for  the  next  word,  and  the 
sermon  would  be  brightened  by  lively  questions  and 
answers.  As  a  sequel  to  the  friendship  thus  established 
between  the  strong-willed  preacher  and  his  youthful 
hearers,  the  children  he  met  would  often  run  up  to 
him  in  the  street,  claiming  a  kind  of  property  in  him. 
And  sometimes  he  would  be  aroused  from  a  reverie, 


14 

as  he  walked  along,  by  a  soft  little  hand  gently  placed 
in  his  own,  and  trusting  eyes  upturned  to  his. 

His  addresses  in  the  Sunday-school  and  his  teaching 
in  his  Bible-classes  won  many  a  young  heart,  not  only 
to  himself  but  to  his  Master.  Let  an  old  member  of 
a  Kelso  Bible-class  tell  the  tale  of  sorrowing  memory 
in  her  own  warm,  simple  words  : — "  I  sometimes  won- 
der if  any  one  else  ever  possessed  the  faculty  that  he 
had  of  drawing  towards  him  the  affection  of  young 
people,  which,  when  you  were  once  brought  under  the 
charm  of  his  friendship,  could  never  afterwards  be  lost 
or  lessened.  How  well  I  remember  his  class  for  us 
girls !  We  would  not  for  all  the  world  have  missed 
that  hour  on  Wednesday  afternoon.  I  think  I  see  the 
little  room,  underneath  the  dear  old  church,  where  we 
gathered,  a  bright,  happy  band  of  school-girls,  sitting 
around  to  listen  to  his  earnest,  loving,  faithful  teaching. 
I  see  Dr.  Bonar  seated  at  the  end  of  the  long  table 
with  the  large  Bible  spread  out  before  him,  the  Bible- 
hymn-book  in  his  hand,  his  dear  handsome  face 
beaming,  and  the  pleasant  smile  which  lighted  it  up, 
as  some  of  us  gave  a  fuller,  clearer  answer  than  he 
expected  to  the  question  asked.  And  then  the  last 
meeting  before  the  holidays ;  what  a  solemn  hour  it 
was,  as  he  reminded  us  that  never  again  here  below 
should  we  all  meet  together,  and  spoke  of  the  meeting- 
place  above.  All  kneeling  down,  to  be  each  tenderly 
commended  to  the  loving  care  of  our  heavenly  Father, 
bathed  in  tears,  we  could  hardly  tear  ourselves  away, 
lingering  long  after  the  usual  time.  How  we  still 
cherish  the  hymn  he  wrote  specially/^  us,  beginning, — 

*  Shall  this  life  of  mine  be  wasted  ? 
Shall  this  vineyard  lie  unfilled  ? 
Shall  true  joy  pass  by  untasted, 
And  this  soul  remain  unfilled  ? ' 


15 
And  ending  thus, — 

'Then,  no  longer  idly  dreaming, 
Shall  I  fling  my  years  away  ; 
But,  each  precious  hour  redeeming, 
Wait  for  the  eternal  day  ! ' 

Our  names  on  copies  of  the  hymn,  along  with  his  own 
beautiful  signature,  were  written  with  the  gold  pen  we 
had  presented  to  him.  How  often  has  that  hymn 
stimulated  me  to  gather  up  the  fragments  of  time, 
instead  of  passing  a  lazy,  idle  hour.  I  have  no  sweeter 
memories  than  that  Bible-class  and  the  Communion 
services  in  0U1  M  church." 

It  need  not  be  said  how  tei  ntlc  and  loving 

such  a  father  was  toward  his  own  children:  he  found 
it  difficult  to  think  they  did  v. :  This  love  to  them 

was  repaid  by  reverential  and  admiring  love  to  him. 
One  of  them  writes:  "Ami  >ng  my  earliest  remembrances 
as  a  child  is  that  of  awe-struck  listening  to  the  \ 

Of  prayer  coming  from  the  locked  study,  where  he 
knelt,  or    paced   up   and    down,  sometimes  for  hours. 

A  young  servant  in  our  house  owed  her  conversion  to 

this.  She  thought:  'If  hi  needs  to  pray  so  much, 
what  will  become  of  me  if  I  do  not  pray?"1  Succes- 
sive bereavements  in  his  family  brought  out  the  depth 
of  his  affection,  and  prepared  him  all  the  better  to 
succour  and  to  sympathize  with  the  afflicted. 

In  his  early  Kelso  year-,  Dr.  BoiUtT  was  in  the 
habit  of  issuing  imitations  for  united  prayer  on  speci- 
fied subjects,  and  extending  over  perhaps  eight  days, 
thus  foreshadowing  the  action  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  and  other  bodies,  in  the  same  direction. 

The  copious  stream  that  flowed  from  his  pen  in 
both  prose  and  verse  had  its  origin  in  the  felt  needs 


i'6 

of  his  people.  He  wished  to  give  them,  simply  and 
clearly,  guidance  on  the  way  to  heaven.  When  thus 
he  penned  such  tracts  as  "  Believe  and  Live,"  he  little 
thought  some  of  them  would  go  round  the  world,  and 
become  classics  in  evangelistic  literature.  The  lumin- 
ous presentation  of  gospel  truth  in  "  Believe  and  Live," 
made  it  the  means  of  removing  doubt  and  difficulty 
from  many  perplexed  souls,  and  of  leading  many  to 
the  Saviour.  Its  simple  doctrine  was  by  some  sharply 
challenged.  But  it  commended  itself  to  the  Church, 
and  it  received  the  stamp  of  unqualified  approval  from 
his  own  honoured  professor,  Dr.  Chalmers,  who  used 
to  say,  "  Yes  ;  I  hold  by  that."  The  "  Kelso  Tracts  " 
did,  and  still  do,  a  wide  and  blessed  work.  Thus  Dr. 
Bonar  was  led  on  to  the  production  of  larger  works, 
such  as  «■  God's  Way  of  Peace,"  "  The  Night  of  Weep- 
ing," and  a  multitude  of  others  from  his  unwearying 
pen.  Through  these  his  teaching  has  spread  to  all 
lands  where  English  is  spoken,  and,  by  means  of  trans- 
lations, to  lands  where  English  is  not  known.  Who 
can  estimate  how  many  perplexities  have,  by  the 
blessed  teaching  of  these  books,  been  swept  away 
from  souls  which  groped  in  spiritual  darkness,  or  how 
many  tears  have  been  wiped  from  weeping  eyes,  the 
wide  world  over  ? 

The  vastness  of  the  influence  for  good  thus  wielded 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the  circulation  of 
"  God's  Way  of  Peace  "  amounts  to  285,000  copies  ;  of 
"  The  Night  of  Weeping  "  to  59,000  ;  and  of  "  Hymns 
of  Faith  and  Hope"  (though  in  this  we  anticipate 
what  remains  to  be  spoken  of),  to  140,729. 

Still  more  interesting  is  it  to  trace  to  their  earthly 
source — for  their  true  fountain-head  was  not  of  this 
world — the  streams  of  sacred  song  which  filled  deep 


17 

channels  and  fertilized  distant  lands.  Mr.  Bonar,  when 
superintendent  of  his  Sabbath  school  in  Lcith,  began 
with  the  simple  aim  of  putting  into  the  lips  and  de- 
positing in  the  hearts  of  the  children  Gospel  truth  in 
a  clear  and  attractive  form.  Beginning  in  Leith,  the 
hymns  were  multiplied  in  Kelso.  The  first  seems  to 
have  been  "  I  was  a  wandering  sheep,"  the  second,  "  I 
lay  my  sins  on  Jesus/1  the  third,  "A  few  more  \ 
shall  roll."  Lcith  and  Kelso  children  loved  them. 
The  children  of  Scotland  and  of  England  heard  and 
loved  them.  Our  sons  in  the  colonies  and  our  brothers 
in  America  heard  and  loved  them     And  now  children 

and  old  people  too,  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  from 

Spain  to  Russia,  find  in  them,  as  rendered  into  their  own 
tongues,  fitting  utterance   for  their  spiritual   longings. 
Hymn  succeeded  hymn,  and  some  of  them  are  scat: 
Over   the   globe  in   millions.      Like  the  richest  of  our 
Scottish  songsters,  which 

"Trills  bet  thick  warbled  note,  the  summer  l<>ng," 

the  singer  ceased   not  to  pour  his  lays.      In  joy  they 

welled    up,   not    without   a   si  pathos   in    them, 

from  the  fountain  o(  a  thankful   heart.      In  sorrow,  as 
they  flowed   tenderly  and   touchingly,   the)-   assu 
the  keenness  of  his  v. 

As  he  tells  us,  in  that  exquisite  fragment  of  poetic 
autobiography,  his  preface  to  "  My  Old  Letters," — 

"  Thou  art  the  lute  with  which  I  sang  my  Radii 
When  s.ulnrss  like  a  cloud  begirt  my  " 

Thou  art  the  harp  whose  strings  gave  oat  my  gladness, 
When  burst  the  sunshine  of  a  happier  day, 

;ig  upon  my  soul  with  Sweet  and  silent  ray. 

The  sickle  thou  with  which  I  have  been  reaping 
My  great  life-harvest  here  on  earth  ;  and  now 
'Mid  these  my  sheaves  I  lay  me  down  unweepin^, 


i8 

Nay,  full  of  joy,  in  life's  still  evening-glow, 

And  wipe  the  reaper's  sweat  from  this  toil-furrowed  brow." 

A  somewhat  silent  man  in  private  life,  and  markedly- 
reticent  as  to  his  own  feelings  and  experiences,  he  had 
less  to  gain  than  many  from  human  sympathy,  in  his 
unspoken  heartaches  ;  so  God  gave  him  the  solace  of 
his  ever-present  lyre,  which  yielded  sympathetic  re- 
sponse to  his  lightest  touch.  He  recognized,  as  years 
ran  on,  that  his  "life-harvest"  was  being  widely 
reaped  by  means  of  the  same  tuneful  lyre. 

I  may  be  pardoned  if,  as  a  son  of  the  manse  that 
nestles  by  the  banks  of  the  Tweed,  I  venture  to  add 
this  thought — Dr.  Bonar's  early  settlement  and  twenty- 
eight  years'  ministry  in  the  old  Border  town  that  lies 
so  sweetly  near  the  spot  where  Tweed  and  Teviot 
meet,  with  richly  wooded  banks,  and  pasture-fields 
aglow  with  the  gowan  and  the  buttercup,  while  the 
hoary  Abbey,  in  the  cloistered  sleeping-place  of  the 
dead,  towers  tall  and  solemn  over  all,  and  tells  the 
story  of  eight  hundred  years  to  one  of  the  fairest 
scenes  in  all  fair  Scotland — surely  this  has  not  been 
without  its  influence  in  tuning  the  lyre  he  loved  so 
well.  In  the  same  spot,  to  which  in  after  years  he  led 
her  back,  was  born  and  nurtured  the  gentle  partner  of 
his  life,  whose  sensitive  nature  was  keenly  alive  to  the 
beauty  of  her  father's  and  her  husband's  home,  and 
who,  at  the  same  fountain,  herself  also  drank  some 
draughts  of  poesy  and  song.  Well,  it  is  over  now ; 
and  the  two  lives  are  reunited  where  no  shadow  rests 
upon  the  green  pastures,  and  where  the  two  harps  will 
never  more  be  attuned  to  strains  of  grief. 

"I'm  but  a  stranger  here  " 

fitted  the  land  they  have  left ;  it  does  not  fit  the  shore 


19 

they  have  reached.     In  heaven  there  are  no  strangers. 

And  now  both  can  join  in  the  jubilant  acclaim  of  the 
poet's  partner, — 

"  P'arewell,  mortality, 
Jesus  is  mine ; 
Welcome,  eternity, 

Jesus  is  mine  ; 
Welcome,  ye  >c  i 
Welcome,  ye  mansions  1  '. 
Welcome,  ■  Saviour*!  breast, 
:>  mine." 

But  to  return  :  one  cardinal  feature  of  Dr.   Bonar's 
hymns  is  that  they  arc  not  merely  sacred  poems  but 
hymns  indeed.     That  is,  they  contain  such  expre 
of  adoration,  confession,  aspirati  ;" ttin^  in  the 

devout  worshipper.      And  while  they  express  they  lend 

intensity  to  his  thoughts.     It  needs  n  to  inter- 

pret them  ;  a  child  may  understand  them  ;  they  flow 
limpid    as    the   mountain    stream  ;    yet    they    sparkle 
with  the  graces  of  imagination  and  with  felicitic 
expression. 

The  Church  o(  God  has  not  been  slow  to  disc- 
that    they    minister    to   her    devotion    and    meet    her 
spiritual  need.     Some  of  them  are  found  d   in 

the  hymnals  of  all  lands.     Fifty  y 

give   lar^e   opportunity    for  sele.  I  rj    there   are 

doubtless  yet  others  of  the  hymns  that  will  receive  the 
stamp  of  general  acceptance.  They  were  written  in 
very  varied  circumstances,  sometimes  timed  by  the 
numbers  of  the  tinkling  brook  that  babbled  near  him  ; 
sometimes  attuned  to  the  ordered  tramp  of  the  ocean, 
whose  crested  waves  broke  on  the  beach  by  which  he 
wandered  ;  sometimes  set  to  the  rude  music  of  the 
railway  train  that  hurried  him  to  the  scene  of  duty  ; 


20 

sometimes  measured  by  the  silent  rhythm  of  the  mid- 
night stars  that  shone  above  him. 

There  are  few  honours  on  earth  equal  to  that  of 
giving  harmonious,  elevating,  enkindling  utterance  to 
the  deepest  devotional  thoughts  of  the  children  of  God. 
A  sermon  does  its  work  and  passes.  But  a  true  hymn 
is  sung,  and  sung,  and  sung  again  by  souls  humbled, 
animated,  inspired  by  its  breath,  in  countless  assemblies 
of  the  faithful,  in  various  lands,  through  many  genera- 
tions. That  honour  have  not  all  the  saints.  That 
honour  God  has  given  to  your  lamented  pastor. 

The  stir  of  strife  did  not  suit  Horatius  Bonar.  The 
din  of  controversy  was  distasteful  to  him,  his  weapons 
were  not  fashioned  for  such  employ,  and  so 

"  In  days  of  public  strife,  when,  sharp  and  stinging, 
The  angry  words  went  daily  to  and  fro, 
Friend  against  friend  the  polished  missiles  flinging, 
Each  seeking  who  could  launch  the  keenest  blow, 
I  went  to  thee,  my  harp,  and  bade  thy  numbers  flow." 

When  many  a  keen  controversy  of  the  nineteenth 
century  shall  be  forgotten,  "  I  lay  my  sins  on  Jesus,'* 
and  kindred  strains,  shall  utter  and  shall  swell  the 
devotion  of  God's  united  children.  We  are  not  all 
fitted  for  all  work  ;  and  that  he  felt  himself.  But 
which  of  us  is  fitted  for  his  work  ? 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  poet's  prefer- 
ence and  his  judgment  about  his  own  hymns.  One 
little  guide  to  this  we  are  enabled  to  contribute.  When 
a  friend  one  day  said  to  him,  "  My  favourite  among 
all  your  hymns  is,  '  When  the  weary  seeking  rest,' "  he 
replied,  "  I  think  that  is  my  own  favourite  too  ;  it  has 
less  poetry  in  it  than  some  of  them,  but  I  like  it." 
And  well  he  might.  Its  swell  and  sweep  of  tearful 
compassion    for   sorrow   under   every   form,   and    its 


ii 


21 

successive  bursts  of  passionate  pleading  on  behalf  of 
the  sorrowing,  may  well  give  it  a  foremost  place  in 
the  worship  of  the  suffering  sons  of  men.  Perhaps 
the  next  in  the  poet's  own  esteem  was,  "  I  heard  the 
voice  of  Jesus  say."  And  on  this  point  the  judgment 
of  the  Church  will  hardly  differ  from  the  judgment  of 
the  author.  Bishop  Frascr,  of  Manchester,  thought 
this  hymn  the  finest  in  the  English  language. 

The  breath  of  Dr.  Bonar's  poetry  has  wafted  the 
message  of  salvation  to  many  who  do  not  hear  it  in 
sermons,  or  who  might  not  welcome  it  in  tracts  or  in 
ordinary  books.  The  history  would  be  voluminous 
and  of  tender  interest,  if  it  could  be  written,  of  the 
dark'  souls  enlightened,  the  troubled  souls  comforted, 
the  dying  souls  revived,  by  repeated  or  remembered 
verses  of  HoratlUS  Bonar's  hymns.  One  present  at 
the  funeral  told  Andrew  Bonar  that  the  hymn  be- 
ginning "  I  hear  the  words  of  love  "  had  led  him  into 
clear  light.  How  many  others  could  bear  such  testi- 
mony! We  mourn  to-day  that  the  voice  of  the 
sweet  psalmist,  not  of  Scotland  or  of  England,  but  of 
the  Church  of  God,  "the  sweet  psalmist  of  [frail? 
will  be  heard  no  more. 

I  have  spoken  chiefly  of  his  Kelso  ministry  and 
work.  Time  forbids  me  to  dwell  upon  his  work  in 
Edinburgh.  Nor,  brethren,  is  it  needful  that  I  should 
enlarge  on  what  is  so  well  known  to  yourselves  I  li^ 
work  here  was  a  continuation,  with  necessary  modifica- 
tions, of  his  work  in  Kelso.  It  received  the  recogni- 
tion of  his  brethren  when  he  was  placed  in  the  chair 
of  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland. 

Vigorous  alike  in  body  and  mind,  he  was  gifted 
with   a   singular   tolerance    of  toil.     Editor   of    and 


22 

contributor  to  various  periodicals,  his  pen  was  never 
idle.  Books,  tracts,  hymns  continually  occupied  him. 
He  was  consulted  from  all  quarters  about  questions  of 
experimental  religion  and  prophetical  interpretation, 
and  his  correspondence  was  immense.  Yet  he  was 
always  ready  to  accept  of  preaching  engagements 
far  and  near,  when  free  from  imperative  home  claims. 
— -For-  all  this  and  much  more,  time  and  strength  had 
to  be  found  amid  the  steady  demands  of  his  pulpit 
and  pastoral  duties  in  his  own  congregation.  One  who 
greatly  honoured  Dr.  Bonar  said  to  me  that  one 
friend  told  him  he  was  always  writing,  and  another 
that  he  was  always  preaching,  and  a  third  that  he  was 
always  praying.  Nor  was  any  one  of  the  three  far 
wrong.  A  fourth  might  with  equal  truth  have  added 
that  he  was  always  visiting.  At  Moody's  great  gather- 
ings, at  Mildmay  Conferences,  and  the  like,  no  presence 
was  more  grateful,  no  words  more  helpful  than  his. 
At  prophetical  conferences  he  took  a  leading  part, 
holding  firmly  premillennial  views  during  all  his  career. 
No  labour  was  declined  where  good  might  be  done. 
His  only  complaint  was  when  strength  for  labour 
failed.  The  last  time  I  saw  him,  some  months  ago, 
on  his  bed  of  languor  and  weariness,  his  plaintive 
utterance  was  this,  "  Useless,  useless,  useless ! "  as  if  he 
could  be  useless,  whose  winged  words  of  truth  were 
scattered  over  half  the  globe. 

Of  his  last  illness  I  will  not  say  much.  In  its 
earlier  stages,  before  prostration  and  uneasiness  be- 
came extreme,  his  sufferings  seemed  to  quicken  all 
his  sympathies.  He  was  compelled  to  lie  stretched 
out  at  full  length  in  search  of  ease.  In  that  recum- 
bent posture  the  sick  man  used  night  and  morning  to 
conduct  family  worship.     His  children  listened  to  the 


23 

outpourings  of  his  heart.  Thoughts  and  feelings 
which  he  never  breathed  otherwise  in  human  hearing 
he  poured  into  the  ear  of  his  God,  till  he  seemed  to 
forget  the  presence  of  earthly  listeners.  Family 
matters  were  referred  to  in  detail,  with  the  mention  of 
the  names  of  his  children  and  others.  His  petitions 
were  particular  and  minute.  For  his  loved  congrega- 
tion he  always  poured  out  his  supplication,  mentioning 
tenderly  by  name  persons  in  affliction.  His  prayers 
reflected  his  own  frames,  sometimes  coming  out  of  the 
depths,  and  sometimes  rising  into  songs  of  deliverance. 
Taught  by  his  own  sufferings,  he  would  say,  "  Oh  how 
many  people  arc  in  pain  !  I  never  knew  how  to  pray 
for  them  enough  before."  At  that  time  his  Parallel 
New  Testament  lay  by  him  all  day  long  and  satisfied 
him. 

Darker  days  came,  and  physical  uneasiness  and  pain 
engrossed  him  more.  The  effort  of  continuous  thought 
became  too  much  for  him,  and  his  spiritual  nourish- 
ment was  supplied  in  broken  snatches  of  truth  or  in 
single  texts.  Listening  fatigued  him,  and  it  was  easier 
for  him  to  repeat  brief  portions  of  Scripture,  which 
from  life-long  familiarity  still  clung  to  his  memory: 
"Have  mercy  on  me,  for  I  am  weak  ;  O  Lord,  heal 
me,  for  my  bones  arc  vexed  ;  my  soul  is  also  sore 
vexed  :  but  Thou,  O  Lord,  how  long  ? "  Sometimes 
he  would  cry  out,  "  Lord,  help  me  to  bear  this."  If  re- 
freshed by  quiet  sleep,  he  would  say,  "Oh,  what  a  mercy 
to  be  free  from  pain  !  let  us  say  the  103rd  Psalm." 
Even  at  this  time  he  would  repeat  it  correctly  from 
beginning  to  end.  Through  life  it  had  been  his  habit 
to  read  this  psalm  on  the  occurrence  of  any  joyful 
event  ;  and  when  the  end  drew  near,  this  psalm  was 
still  his  song.     An  illuminated  text  in  large  characters 


24 

hung  on  the  wall  at  the  foot  of  his  bed,  and  was  con- 
tinually on  the  lips  and  in  the  heart  of  the  dying  man  ; 
it  was  this,  "  Until  the  day  break,  and  the  shadows  flee 
away." 

In  his  later  weeks  he  scarcely  spoke  but  from 
necessity.  And  so  the  way-worn  pilgrim  fell  on  sleep, 
to  awake  where  there  is  no  more  pain,  for  the  former 
things  are  passed  away ;  to  awake,  after  the  long 
gloom,  in  the  sudden  brightness  of  the  glory  for  which 
he  yearned,  and  of  which  he  sang, — 

"  What  a  city  !  what  a  glory  ! 
Far  beyond  the  brightest  story 
Of  the  ages  old  and  hoary  : 
Ah,  'tis  heaven  at  last ! 

Christ  Himself  the  living  splendour, 
Christ  the  sunlight  mild  and  tender ; 
Praises  to  the  Lamb  we  render  : 
Ah,  'tis  heaven  at  last ! 

Now  at  length  the  veil  is  rended, 
Now  the  pilgrimage  is  ended, 
And  the  saints  their  thrones  ascended  : 
Ah,  'tis  heaven  at  last ! 

Broken  death's  dread  bands  that  bound  us, 
Life  and  victory  around  us  ; 
Christ,  the  King,  Himself  hath  crowned  us  : 
Ah,  'tis  heaven  at  last !  " 

Denique  ccelum,  thus  beautifully  expanded  by  the 
soaring  and  sanctified  imagination  of  the  poet,  was  the 
motto  of  his  family — a  family  identified  with  the 
ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  history  of  Scotland,  and 
enshrined  in  its  grateful  memory.  Let  us  think  of 
him,  now  that  he  is  gone,  not  in  connection  with  the 
parting  shadows,  but  with  the  greetings  of  the  open 
gate  above ; — Denique  ccelum. 


*5 

It  is  noteworthy  that  one  of  the  last  products  of  his 
pen,  written  near  the  end  of  1887,  is  entitled:  "My 
Funeral :  shall  it  be  this  year?"  It  is  but  a  fragment, 
a  page  of  manuscript.  The  once  nimble  pen  refused 
to  fulfil  its  task  :  the  New  Year's  tract  was  never  com- 
pleted ;  the  funeral  was  over  before  the  question  was 
answered. 

To  another  late  and  unfinished  paper,  that  written 
for  his  jubilee,  I  have  already  adverted.  It  has  to 
me  a  strange  and  pathetic  interest  in  its  closing  sen- 
tences: — "Righteousness,"  says  Dr.  Bonar,  "witi 
works  to  the  sinner,  simply  on  his  acceptance  of  the 
Divine  message  concerning  Jesus  and  His  sufficiency, — 
this  has  been  the  burden  of  our  good  news.  ...  It  is 
one  message,  one  gospel,  one  e  sacrifice,  from 

which  nothing  can  be  *  .  inch  nothing  can 

be   added.     This  is   the  Alpha   and   the  Omega,  the 
lining  and  the  ending  of  our  ministry 

He  then  ca  « the  burning  questions 

of  the  day  and  says:  "The  change-  that  have  taken 
place  in  public  opinion,  in  t!  .1  speculation,  in 

ecclesiastical    discipline,    in     religi  ntiment,    in 

spiritual  thought,  in  conj  riticism,  in  the  value 

attached  to  belief  and  non-belief,  in  the  new  codes  of 
hermeneutical    law,    in   the    1  of  creeds,    and 

the  refusal  of  any  guidance  or  control  save  those  of 

science  and  philosophy,  the  adoption  of  culture," 

a  comma  is  added,  and  at  that  comma  the  paper  ends. 
The  sick  man  never  resumed  the  broken  sentence, 
and  the  opinion  he  had  formed  was  never  uttered. 
What  thoughts  that  uncompleted  sentence  awakens  in 
the  mind  !  One  wonders  how,  under  the  clear  light 
of  the  heavens  that  shine  around  him  now,  and  amid 
the  stillness  of  that  clime  which  is  disturbed  by  no 


26 

breath  of  controversy,  that  sentence  would  be  fin- 
ished. 

Finally,  brethren,  need  I  remind  you  what  was  the 
heart's  desire  of  your  late  pastor  on  your  behalf ;  and 
what  were  his  daily  dying  prayers  for  you,  when  his 
voice  could  no  longer  reach  you,  yet  could  ascend  to 
the  throne  of  God  ?  Some  of  you  perhaps  have 
never  realized  how  tenderly  he  loved  you.  On  one 
occasion,  when  some  sharp  reference  was  made  to  one 
of  his  flock,  his  heart  was  grieved  within  him.  "Hush !  '* 
he  said,  "  do  not  speak  so.  You  do  not  know  how  a 
minister  feels  to  the  members  of  his  congregation  over 
whom  he  has  watched  and  prayed.  It  is  like  speaking 
against  my  own  children."  Such  was  the  man  whose 
message  to  you  was,  "  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  By 
some  of  you  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  invitation  of  him 
who,  like  Philip,  preached  Christ  unto  you,  has  not  yet 
been  accepted.  Will  you  refuse  it  this  day,  when  it 
comes  to  you  hallowed  by  the  memory  of  a  faithful 
ministry  now  ended,  and  a  pleading  voice  now  silent : 
"  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God  "? 


S  c  r  m  o  n 


PREACHED  IN  THE  CHALMERS  MEMORIAL  CHURCH, 

GRANGE,  EDINBURGH,  ON  THE 

AFTERNOON  OF  SABBATH,  nth  AUGUST  iSSg, 

BY  THE 

REV.  A.  N  SOMERVILLE,  D.D.,   GLASGOW. 


S  c  r  m  o  It 

By  the  Rev,  A.  N.  xj.meryili.k,  D.D.,  Gla^uOw. 

"  And  .'•'.  SOMg  cf  Moses  the  servant  cf  GcJ,  and  the 

The  theme  suggested  by  this  vision  is  the  Christian's 
contemplation  of  the  dispensations  of  God.  The  Divine 
picture  is  exhibited  to  us  near  the  close  of  the  Revela- 
tion, and  is  introductory  to  the  pouring  out  of  the  seven 
vials  containing  the  seven  last  plagues, "  for  in  them  is 
filled  up  the  wrath  of  God."  The  subject,  therefore, 
is  most  solemn  and  alarming.  Let  me  say,  that  I  do 
not  here  enter  on  the  interpretation  of  these  plagues 
or  judgments,  nor  attempt  to  fix  the  period  of  their 
occurrence.  I  wish  merely  to  notice  that  the  scene 
presented  to  us  is  the  prelude  to  their  execution. 
What  is  the  method  by  which  God  has  chosen  to 
introduce  these  terrible  thin  '.:e   notice  of  the 

Church?  It  is  not  by  a  blare  of  trumpets,  nor  by  the 
wail  of  those  enduring  unutterable  anguish,  nor  by 
thunders  that  make  us  vibrate,  nor  with  terror,  but  by 
music  and  by  a  Divine  song.  This  music  proceeds 
from  a  mighty  host,  who,  after  a  conflict  in  which  they 
have  been  willing  to  yield  up  their  lives  for  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus,  arc  represented  as  now  standing  on 
the  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire  ;  not  any  more  clad 
in  the  armour  of  God,  but  holding  in  their  hands  the 
harps  of  God. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  voice  of  heavenly  har- 
monies is  heard  pealing  from  on  high  ;  and  as  in  Beth- 


30 

lehem,  at  the  birth  of  Messiah,  the  shepherds  heard  the 
angelic  host  singing  in  the  sky,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men  ; " 
so  now,  though  it  is  no  longer  a  choir  of  angels  who 
appear  in  the  celestial  vision,  but  a  host  of  redeemed 
and  faithful  men,  the  sounds  which  fall  upon  our  ear 
are  those  of  rejoicing  and  praise. 

They  sing  a  hymn  of  triumph,  whose  title  is  "  The 
Song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  Song  of 
the  Lamb."  Not  only,  however,  is  the  title  of  the 
hymn  given  to  us,  but,  as  in  the  case  of  the  shepherds, 
the  very  words  of  it,  which  are  to  this  effect,—- 

"Great  and  marvellous  are  Thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty;  just 
and  true  are  Thy  ways,  Thou  King  of  saints.  Who  shall  not  fear  Thee, 
O  Lord,  and  glorify  Thy  name?  for  Thou  only  art  [holy :  for  all 
nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  Thee ;  for  Thy  judgments  are 
made  manifest." 

Let  us  notice  the  two  parts  included  in  the  title  of 
this  song. 

I.— -The  Song  of  Moses  the  Servant  of  God. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Revelation  is  a 
mystical  or  symbolical  book.  The  Song  of  Moses 
with  which  we  are  familiar  is  that  which  was  sung  by 
the  leader  of  Israel  at  the  Red  Sea,  when  Israel  was 
delivered  from  Egyptian  bondage  and  their  adversaries 
were  overwhelmed.  But  we  are  not  to  restrict  the 
meaning  of  "  the  Song  of  Moses  "  to  the  literal  song, 
but  to  view  it  in  relation  to  Moses  as  the  representative 
of  the  Law  which  bears  his  name,  and,  indeed,  to  the 
Old  Testament  generally.  It  embraces  in  its  meaning 
all  the  deliverances  which  God  wrought  for  His  people, 
as  well  as  the  judgments  executed  on  His  enemies, 


3i 

such  as  the  destruction  of  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
dreadful  things  found  in  some  parts  of  the  Psalms  and 
prophets,  and  which  are  so  hard  to  be  understood 
by  many. 

That  these  heavenly  choristers,  standing  on  the  sea 
of  glass,  should  sing  this  song,  is  a  joyous  acknowledg- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Church  of  God  that  all  that 
may  have  seemed  dark,  mysterious,  and  at  times  inex- 
plicable under  the  Law  and  under  the  Old  Testament, 
is  perfectly  reconcilable  with  the  gracious  character 
of  God. 

This  we  take  to  be  the  import  of  the  first  part  of 
the  title  of  the  choristers'  triumphant  song. 

[I.— The  Song  ok  the  Lamb. 

As  for  the  second  part  of  the  title,  "  The  Song  of 
the  Lamb,"  it  is  somewhat  more  difficult  to  explain. 

We  naturally  turn  to  Chapter  v.  of  this  book,  and 
are  ready  to  exclaim  that  "the  Song  of  the  Lamb"  in 
Chapter  xv.  must  be  the  same  as  that  recorded  in 
Chapter  v.  This,  however,  is  questionable.  In  Chapter 
v.  a  mystical  account  is  given  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  redeemed  in  Heaven  greeted  the  appearance  of  the 
Lamb,  when  He  stood  up  as  Redeemer  in  the  midst  of 
the  throne,  to  claim  it  as  His  indefeasible  right  to  take 
the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof — that  book, 
which,  under  a  figure  taken  from  the  ancient  Jewish 
law,  represented  the  title-deeds  of  the  inheritance,  and 
in  which  are  enrolled  the  names  of  those  repeatedly 
said  to  be  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life. 

It  is  quite  natural  for  us,  at  first  sight,  to  suppose 
that  "the  Song  of  the  Lamb"  in  Chapter  v.,  "Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  :  Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to 


32 

God  by  Thy  blood,"  is  the  same  as  the  song  referred 
to  in  Chapter  xv. ;  yet  we  are  constrained  to  believe 
that  "the  Song  of  the  Lamb"  combined  with  "the 
Song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,"  in  our  text,  is  a 
somewhat  different  song  from  that  in  Chapter  v.  There 
the  Lamb  is  the  subject  of  the  song,  whereas  in  the 
passage  before  us  the  Lamb  Himself  is  He  who  sings. 
That  the  songs  in  the  two  chapters  are  not  the  same, 
we  gather  from  the  fact  that  whereas  in  Chapter  v. 
Christ  is  extolled  because  of  redemption  through  His 
death,  in  Chapter  xv.  the  Father  is  glorified  because 
of  all  His  mighty  acts  and  judgments,  thus — 

' '  Great  and  marvellous  are  Thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty ; 
Just  and  true  are  Thy  ways,  Thou  King  of  saints. 
Who  shall  not  fear  Thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  Thy  name  ? 
For  Thou  only  art  holy  : 

For  all  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  Thee  ; 
For  Thy  judgments  are  made  manifest." 

And  whereas  it  might  be  thought  that  the  idea  of 
the  Lamb  singing  is  incongruous,  I  would  recall  such 
passages  as  these — Christ's  own  words,  "  I  will  declare 
Thy  name  unto  My  brethren  ;  in  the  midst  of  the 
Church  will  I  sing  praise  unto  Thee ; "  and  again  that 
wondrous  passage  in  the  Messianic  psalm,  "  He  hath 
put  a  new  song  in  my  mouth,  even  praise  unto  our 
God  ;  many  shall  see  it,  and  fear,  and  shall  trust  in 
the  Lord ;"  and  yet  again  that  glorious  prophecy,  "The 
Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty  ;  He  will 
save,  He  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy  ;  He  will  rest 
in  His  love,  He  will  joy  over  thee  with  singing." 

What,  then,  may  we  understand  to  be  "  the  Song 
of  the  Lamb  "  ?  It  is  the  acknowledgment  by  the  Son 
of  all  the  great,  marvellous,  mighty,  and  holy  acts  by 
which  the  Father  carries  forward  His  Divine  purposes, 


33 

all  of  which  arc  summed  up  in  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  the  acknowledgment  by  the  Son  of  all  the  Father's 
marvellous  love  to  a  lost  world.  It  is  the  declaration 
of  the  covenant  by  which  the  Father  gave  a  people 
to  Him  for  their  redemption,  promising  to  Him  the 
heathen  for  His  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  His  possession.  It  is  the  acknowledg- 
ment that  all  the  Father's  resources  of  wisdom,  love, 
and  power  are  exercised  in  the  protection  and  defence 
of  His  own,  and  that  all  events  shall  work  together  for 
their  good  and  for  the  glory  of  God's  name. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  if  "the  Song  of  the  Lamb"  is 
the  celebration  of  the  Divine  glory,  wherein 
differ  from  "the  Song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God  "? 
The  difference  lies  in  this,  that  whereas,  in  the  case  of 
Moses,  the  administration  of  all  events  in  providence 
is  regulated  by  God's  infinite  wisdom,  manifested  in 
His  government  of  human  affairs,  in  regard  to  "the 
Song  of  the  Lamb,"  we  are  reminded  that  all  thi 
are  connected  with  infinite  love,  that  love  which  the 
Father  bears  to  the  Son,  and  which  He  has  manifested 
towards  sinners,  in  giving  the  Son,  who  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  for  their  salvation.  This  infinite 
love,  betokened  by  "the  Song  of  the  Lamb,"  finds  ex- 
pression in  all  the  acts  of  God's  providence,  however 
terrible  and  hard  at  the  time  they  be  to  reconcile  with 
God's  paternal  tender: 

M  The  Song  of  the  Lamb  "  is,  like  "  the  Song  of 
Moses,"  an  ascription  of  praise  to  the  Father  ;  but 
that  ascription  is  infinitely  transcending  in  the  case  of 
the  Lamb,  although  the  supreme  subject  of  praise  to 
the  Father  involves  the  sufferings,  the  death,  and  the 
atonement  of  the  beloved  Son  Himself. 

The  lesson  from  the  song  for  us  in  this  world  is  the 


34 

encouragement  to  maintain  our  souls  in  patience  under 
the  most  disastrous  circumstances  and  occasions  of 
poignant  grief.  The  terrible  vials  of  Divine  judgment 
are  here  introduced  to  us  by  Divine  song :  let  us  carry 
in  faith  the  idea  of  this  Divine  minstrelsy  as  the  wel- 
come to  be  given  by  ourselves  even  to  the  most 
alarming  and  trying  events,  whether  in  our  persons, 
our  families,  our  Church,  or  in  the  world.  In  all  cir- 
cumstances let  us  participate  with  those  who  stand 
upon  the  sea  of  glass,  singing  "  the  Song  of  Moses  the 
servant  of  God,"  and  "  the  Song  of  the  Lamb." 

The  Lord  Jesus  taught  us  to  pray,  as  our  first 
petition,  "  Hallowed  be  Thy  name  ;  Thy  kingdom 
come."  This  prayer  has  been  offered  for  nearly  nine- 
teen hundred  years,  and  is  now  being  offered  by  a 
greater  multitude  of  worshippers  than  ever  before.  May 
we  not  be  assured  that  that  prayer  cannot  fail  in  any 
case  of  being  answered,  however  the  event  is  to  be 
brought  about  ? 

It  will  most  certainly  be  found  that  not  only  shall 
that  kingdom,  by  its  invincible  power,  crush  and  disin- 
tegrate all  the  oppositions  which  the  world  and  the 
forces  of  hell  can  devise  and  set  up  against  it,  and,  as 
is  emphatically  implied  in  Christ's  word,  pulverize 
everything  that  superstition,  scepticism,  and  atheistic 
ungodliness  can  rear  against  it,  but  that  this  kingdom 
shall  utilize  for  its  own  purposes  the  mightiest  forces 
of  evil  and  turn  them  all  to  the  honour  of  the  Lord 
and  the  good  of  men.  Meanwhile  let  us  patiently 
wait  till  the  Lord  come,  until  all  His  purposes  shall 
be  accomplished.  Of  one  thing  we  may  be  assured 
that  nothing  shall  avail  to  set  aside  the  great  truth  of 
the  preciousness  of  that  redemption  wrought  out  by 
the  Lord  Jesus. 


35 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  "  the  Song  of  the 
Lamb,"  described  in  Chapter  xv.,  is  different  in  its 
character  from  the  song  associated  with  the  name  of 
the  Lamb  in  Chapter  v.  ;  yet  I  cannot  refrain  from 
referring  to  that  song  of  praise  to  the  Lamb,  recorded 
in  the  Song  of  the  Redeemed  in  heaven,  detailed  in 
Chapter  v.  of  this  book,  wherein  these  representatives 
of  the  redeemed  fall  down  before  the  Lamb,  saying, 
■  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by 
Thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people,  and  nation." 

The  value  of  that  precious  portion  of  Scripture  lies 
in  the  connection  that  it  shows  between  the  salvation 
of  men  belonging  to  all  nations,  and  redemption — re- 
demption specifically  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  All 
who  are  saved,  or  ever  shall  be,  have  once  been  sinners, 
and  have  belonged  to  a  lost  world.  Their  salvation  is 
bound  up  with  the  person  and  the  work  of  One,  He 
being  at  once  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  man, 
and  all  whom  He  saves  being  redeemed  by  His  atoning 
blood.  Let  that  memorable  utterance  of  the  apostle 
be  ever  borne  on  our  heart,  ■  We  have  seen  and  do 
testify  that  the  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour 
of  the  world,"  that  "  In  this  was  manifested  the  love 
of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  His  only  be- 
gotten Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through 
Him.  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that 
He  loved  us,  and  sent  His  Son  to  be  the  propitiation 
for  our  sins." 

Let  us  sec  that  we  bear  ever  in  mind  our  condition 
as  sinners,  and  that,  renouncing  self  and  all  confidences 
in  man,  we  trust  in  the  atoning  blood  of  this  mighty 
Saviour  alone,  that  we  live  with  this  as  our  grand  pur- 
pose,— to  bear  witness,  by  our  life  and  word,  for  Christ's 


36 

name,  and  the  salvation  of  men.  God  forbid  that  we 
should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto  us,  and  we  unta 
the  world. 

As  ages  roll  on,  the  redemption  which  Christ  has 
purchased  with  His  blood  will  only  become  more  val- 
uable to  us  ;  and  it  is  a  delightful  thought  that  never 
will  that  redemption  be  found  to  be  so  precious  as  on 
that  day  when  we  stand  in  resurrection  glory  at  the 
great  King's  right  hand.  The  Lord  Jesus,  who  died 
to  save  us,  will  come  again.  He  will  gather  before  Him 
all  His  own.  Not  till  that  day,  when  the  myriads  of 
the  saved  shall  stand  revealed  to  each  other, — when 
the  misery  from  which  they  have  been  delivered  shall 
have  been  shown  them  in  the  perdition  of  the  lost, — 
when  the  countlessness  of  the  sins,  pardoned  in  each 
case,  shall  have  been  laid  to  heart, — when  the  beauty 
which  the  Lord  has  put  on  them  all  has  been  made 
manifest, — when  the  eternal  weight  of  glory  in  reserve 
for  them  shall  stand  out  to  view, — when  the  holiness 
of  the  society,  with  which  alone  for  the  future  they  are 
to  be  associated,  shall  be  realized, — when  they  shall 
be  conscious  that  sin  shall  trouble  them  no  more,  that 
sorrow  and  sighing  have  bid  their  last  farewell,  and 
that  God  Himself  is  their  inheritance  for  ever; — not  till 
that  day,  when  they  take  it  fully  in  that  all  this,  and 
every  blessing  they  receive,  or  ever  shall  receive,  they 
owe  to  the  death  of  their  King,  shall  those  who  are 
saved  apprehend,  as  they  will  then  do,  the  power  of 
His  cross. 

When  the  great  work  of  judgment  is  over,  the  King 
shall  rise,  and  looking  round  on  that  mighty  throng, 
stretching  beyond  the  range  of  mortal  ken,  shall  give 
the  signal  and  say,  "Let  us  go,  the  work  is  done.    There 


37 

remains  no  more  for  us  to  perform."  And  when  the 
King  shall  say  to  those  on  His  right  hand,  "Come,  ye 
blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  is  it  too 
bold  a  stretch  of  imagination  to  suppose  that  the  innu- 
merable multitude,  exchanging  glances  with  each  other, 
shall  gather  after  Him,  and  surge  and  sway,  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  as  He  :   I  inwards?     Shall  they 

not,  under  uncontrollable  impulse,  take  up  that  song, 
sung  in  heaven  so  long  ago,  "Thou  .  .  .  hast  redeemed 
us  by  Thy  blood  OUt  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation,"  and  into  life  eter- 

nal," as  their  King  Himself  promised  on  earth  so  long 
before  ? 

Oh,  may  we  all  be  among  that  glorious  thr 
and  your  late  beloved  and  venerable  pastor,  all  of  us, 
saved  by  unmerited  grace  alone  ;  but,  be  it  riveted  on 
our  heart,  that  unless  we  learn  to  sing  th  IIOW, 

hall   never  have  our  lips  opened  to  sing  it  then. 
Amen. 


On  Monday  last  I  followed  to  the  grave  the  remains 
of  the  venerable  senior  pastor  of  this  congregation. 

The  life  and  ministry  of  Iloratius  Bonar  were  not 
restricted  to  Edinburgh,  yet  they  served  to  ennoble 
his  native  city. 

While  he  added  his  name  to  the  roll  of  the  more 
illustrious  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  have  adorned 
the  annals  of  Edinburgh  since  the  days  of  the  Refor- 
mation, he  has  imparted  to  this  capital,  already  so  re- 
nowned, a  lustre  which  is  recognized  in  every  region 
of  the  world,  and  which  will  perpetuate  his  memory 
long  after  all  who  arc  with  us  to-day  have  gone  from 
the  earth. 

D 


38 

Our  late  beloved  friend  has  passed  away  from  before 
our  eyes  ;  but  while  he  sleeps  with  his  fathers  may  we 
not  say  he  lives  with  us  still,  and  has  a  dwelling  in  the 
grateful  hearts  of  multitudes  throughout  the  world. 
Yet  his  true  home  is  in  that  region  of  blessedness 
above,  where,  without  ^doubt,  he  has  received  the  wel- 
come accorded  to  Christ's  faithful  servants,  as  they 
enter  their  Father's  house. 

I  shrink  from  passing  an  encomium  on  that  dear 
friend,  the  first  pastor  whom  this  congregation  pos- 
sessed, and  whose  ministry  it  has  so  long  enjoyed. 
You  know  his  inestimable  value  even  better  than  most 
of  those  who  have  been  privileged  to  own  him  as  their 
friend. 

It  would  be  of  little  service  to  narrate  the  steps  of 
his  life  history.  We  with  pleasure  recall  its  prominent 
features  which  are  familiar  to  you  all. 

It  is  a  possession,  the  value  of  which  many  are  apt 
to  overlook,  for  one  to  have  had  a  reputable  and 
godly  parentage.     This  was  our  friend's  case. 

That  he  lived  for  the  long  space  of  over  eighty 
years,  maintaining  a  Christian  and  unblemished  life 
in  this  world  of  sin,  treachery,  and  unrighteousness, 
is  a  valuable  tribute  to  his  name. 

Let  any  one  consider  the  influence  of  a  consistent 
spiritual  walk  among  men  for  such  a  period.  When  to 
this  is  added,  that,  from  the  day  of  his  conversion  at 
an  early  season  of  life,  he  laid  all  the  resources  of  his 
being  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  consecrating  his  scholar- 
ship, his  distinguished  abilities,  and  all  the  energies  of 
his  nature,  that  he  might  undividedly  serve  on  earth 
his  heavenly  Master,  it  cannot  but  be  admitted  that 
our  world,  not  to  say  our  city,  is  the  poorer  for  the 
loss  sustained.     The  compensation  left  to  us  is  the 


39 

memory  which  he  has  bequeathed  to  those  who  to-day 
are  mourning  over  their  bereavement — that  memory 
being  fraught  with  so  much  that  is  worthy  of  our 
imitation,  so  much  that  is  useful,  and  graceful,  and 
loving,  and  kind,  with  nothing  to  embitter  recollection. 
Howl  >ng  I   have  known   Dr.   I  :ar,  and 

my  companion,  his  younger  brother,  I   need  not 
Dr.  Bonar  was  a  few  years  my  senior,  and  this  tended 
iakc    intimacy  less  close    in    >tudcnt    years  ;  but 
his  fidelity  to  duty  in  all  relations  of  life  was  a  stimu- 
lus to  those  who  knew  him,  and  had  a  lofty  bearing 
on  the  life-work  of  the  many  who  shared  his  friend- 
ship, and  who  took  part  with  him  in  those  associa- 
and  studies  in  which  he  held  so  eminent  a  place. 
Almost  all  of  these  early   friends  have    gone    before 
him,  but  each  one  has  left  an  impress  which  will  not 
lily  be  effaced. 
A    special    reason  why    the  memory  of  our  friend 
should  be  cherished   is  the  circumstance,  that  along 
with  others,  some  of  whom   are  still   spared  t 
he  took  an   active  share  in  promoting  the  revival  of 
vital   religion   in   Scotland   at   the   memorable    period 
cling    and    accompanying   the    Disruption.     In 
uthful  activity  and  burning  enthusiasm, 

he    helped    to    rai<e  the    standard,  and    call    men    to 
rally  around  the  .ery where  commending  Jesus 

and  a  freely  offered  gospel  to  the  people  I  have  in 
lory  one  interesting  occasion,  when,  in  1S42,  along 
with  Robert  M'Chcyne  and  Dr.  Turves  of  Jedburgh, 
I  took  part  with  Dr.  Bonar  in  an  evangelistic  mission 
to  the  city  of  Newcastle.  This  fidelity  to  the  gospel, 
which  has  been  attended  with  much  fruit,  especially 
in  the  south  o(  Scotland,  he  continued,  with  unabated 
earnestness,  to  maintain  to  the  last.     His  dear  brother 


40 

Andrew  assured  me  last  week  that  for  forty  years, 
without  interruption,  he  had,  alike  in  Collace  and  in 
Glasgow,  preached  for  him  at  communions  for  two  or 
three  days  in  succession,  sometimes  with  great  power, 
and  to  the  deep  satisfaction  of  his  hearers. 

One  striking  characteristic  of  your  late  pastor  was 
the  ceaseless  activity  of  his  pen.  While  faithfully 
performing  the  duties  of  his  direct  ministry,  alike  in 
the  pulpit  and  in  pastoral  visitation,  his  pen  seemed 
ever  to  cling  to  his  hand,  and  with  a  readiness  that 
never  wearied,  he  was  able  to  address  himself  to  the 
larger  audience  who  lay  beyond  his  own  ministerial 
charge,  but  who  greedily  imbibed  what  streamed  from 
his  study.  I  used  to  wonder  how  he  managed  to  keep 
up  such  an  inexhaustible  flow.  Many  of  us  remember 
the  famous  "  Kelso  Tracts,"  that  made  not  a  little  sen- 
sation at  the  time.  His  editorship  of  the  "  Presbyter- 
ian Review  "  and  of  the  "  Journal  of  Prophecy  "  cost 
him  not  a  little  labour.  Then  his  management  of  the 
"  Christian  Treasury,"  so  well  conducted  by  his  ami- 
able predecessor,  the  late  Dr.  Cameron,  of  Melbourne, 
gave  him  a  prominent  position  ;  while  such  books 
as  the  Life  of  beloved  John  Milne,  of  Perth,  the 
interesting  memorial  volume,  "A  Stranger  Here,"  and 
such  books  as  "  The  Night  of  Weeping,"  "  God's  Way 
of  Peace,"  so  greatly  blessed,  "  God's  Way  of  Holi- 
ness," "The  Everlasting  Righteousness,"  and  many 
others,  have  had  a  wide  circulation,  some  of  them  being 
translated  into  other  languages.  Besides  these,  we 
had  the  interesting  account  of  his  journey  through 
the  Great  Wilderness  and  Palestine,  his  "White  Fields 
of  France,"  the  Memoir  of  his  son-in-law,  Rev.  Theo- 
philus  Dodds,  so  affectingly  cut  off  in  the  height  of 
his  usefulness  in  Paris,  and  the  characteristic  poetical 


41 

volume  designated  "  My  Old  Letters,"  containing  so 
man)-  passages  singularly  rich  and  beautiful.  These 
and  many  other  products  of  his  continuous  labour  all 
made  him  favourably  known. 

Dr.  Bonar  expended  much  energy  in  prophetical 
studies, as  witness  his  volume  "  Prophetical  Landmarks," 
and  his  name  is  identified  with  a  special  line  of  inter- 
pretation which  has  man}'  followers.  But  manifold  as 
were  his  efforts  in  these  directions,  perhaps  that  by 
which  the  name  of  Horatius  Bonar  will  be  most 
pleasantly,  gratefully,  and  fruitfully  remembered,  is  the 
hymns  with  which  he  has  enriched  our  literature, 
charmed  the  world,  and  solaced  the  weary,  the  de- 
sponding, the  sick,  and  the  dying — hymns  which,  by 
their  simplicity,  truthfulness,  and  evangelical  fervour, 
have  not  only  comforted  and  instructed  many,  but 
have  led  sinners  not  a  few  to  the  Saviour. 

I  have  not  alluded  to  the  trials  which,  in  the 
course  of  his  ministerial  life,  Dr.  Bonar  ua>  called 
xperience.  Not  merely  was  he  the  subject  of 
rial  illness,  which  compelled  him  to  sus- 
pend his  ministry  for  a  time,  and  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  East,  a  record  of  which  he  has  left  in  the  volumes 
already  referred  to  ;  but  the  Lord  saw  fit  to  withdraw 
from  him  his  loving  partner,  and  call  away  many  dear 
children.  All  these  trials  served  to  bow  him  down, 
and,  doubtless,  had  much  to  do  with  drawing  forth 
expression  in  his  beautiful  and  plaintive  hymns. 

I  may  here  emote  a  single  sentence  from  a  letter  I 
had  from  him  myself,  dated  October  ioth,  1S82,  soon 
after  the  stunning  calamity  which  suddenly  deprived 
his  sorrowing  daughter  of  her  husband,  who  had 
acted  for  some  years  as  the  effective  and  trusted 
coadjutor  of  Dr.  R.  \V.  M'All,  of  Paris. 


42 

"  God  took  five  children  from  me  some  years  ago> 
and  He  has  given  me  other  five  to  bring  up  for  Him 
in  my  old  age." 

They  all  continued  with  him  as  inmates  of  his  home, 
and  were  tenderly  cared  for  while  he  lived. 

Regarding  this  care,  the  widowed  mother  remarks, 
"My  dear  father's  love  for  these  children  was  won- 
derful, and  how  often  his  prayers  must  have  gone 
up  for  them  !  Surely  these  prayers,  along  with  their 
own  father's,  must  prevail." 

I  must  not  omit  reference  to  the  circumstance  that 
our  Free  Church  put  her  highest  honour  for  the  year 
on  Dr.  Bonar  by  placing  him  in  the  Moderator's  chair, 
where  he  acquitted  himself  with  his  well-known 
ability,  and  distinguished  himself  for  the  fearlessness 
with  which  he  asserted  Divine  truth,  and  enjoined 
on  his  brethren  the  duty  of  maintaining  unity  and 
brotherly  love. 

Reverting  to  the  text  for  to-day,  I  conclude  with 
observing  that  Dr.  Bonar  embodied  in  his  testimony 
his  faithful  adherence  to  evangelical  truth,  as  re- 
presented by  Moses  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  by 
the  Lamb  in  the  New;  and  that  it  is  an  interesting 
coincidence  that  the  last  utterances  which  we  received 
from  our  friend's  lips  are  songs,  which  echo  in  our 
hearts  like  the  minstrelsy  that  came  from  the  voices 
and  harps  of  the  choristers  that  stood  on  the  sea  of 
glass  celebrating  the  grace  and  majesty  of  God. 

It  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  Dr.  Bonar  has  left  his 
congregation  in  the  charge  of  one  who  ministered  so 
affectionately  to  him  as  his  colleague,  who  is  so  mature 
in  pastoral  service,  who  possesses  the  confidence  of  his 
brethren,  and  who  has  already  proved  so  useful  to  the 
Church  at  large. 


5  c  i  m  o  n 


PREACHED  IN  THE  CHALMERS  MEMORIAL  CHURCH, 

GRANGE*  EDINBURGH,  ON  THE 

FOREX  SABBATH,  15C-.  SEPTEMBER  iSfy, 

BY  THE 

REV.  J.  M.  :     M.A.,  EDINBURGH. 


5  Z  I  m  0  It 

Bt  the  : 

Mma  the  term*  ef the  L*4  Sec  ..*  U*a  i?'.V*±K 

memJimf  :*  the  wrleftke  Lmrd.     Ami  He  bmried  kirn  in  a  «■ 
the  Ismdef  Jiem*,  ***r  tgmimsi  Jwti/eer:  imt  m  mtsm  fmmrti  tj  his 
mfmiihrt  mmu  tku  Soj.'  —  Vl'j  I  '6, 

)F  THE    I 
There  are  few  con: 

the  o  h  of  some  noble 

of  God     In  the  former  case, 

. 
I 

.J  aflame 
around  it,  il 

ioe  accomplished,  ar.d  th  und 

its  latter  cr.c  witness! 
in  vain. 

es  carries  our  thought  from 
the  one  extreme  to  the 
suggests   da;  .nd   sorrow ;  a  c 

mother  ;  a  ri i 

name  Moses,  ■  because/  Ac 
the  w  -  he  one  ad 

But,  on  the  oth 

to  us  in  the  closing  decades  of  the 
cent. 


46 

For  millenniums  that  name  has  spoken  to  the  world 
of  a  character,  of  an  influence  that  has  told  on  religion 
and  civilization  like  few  others  among  the  sons  of 
men.  Christ  Jesus  apart,  Moses  of  the  Old  Testament 
economy,  and  Paul  of  the  New,  have  graven  themselves 
most  deeply  on  human  thought,  conduct,  and  character, 
and  on  all  those  institutions  which  most  elevate  and 
dignify  mankind.  The  name,  therefore,  carries  us  on 
from  the  helplessness  of  infancy  to  the  very  pinnacle  of 
human  influence  and  renown. 

Naturally  highly  gifted,  providentially  liberally  edu- 
cated, and  singularly  disciplined,  Moses  became  leader, 
deliverer,  lawgiver,  prophet,  historian,  and  sacred  singer 
of  the  foremost  race  of  his  age, — perhaps,  we  might  say, 
of  the  most  gifted  race  of  any  age.  Not  without  heats 
of  temperament  and  an  imperiousness  of  nature,  which 
his  life  at  court  may  have  fostered,  and  which  seriously 
influenced  his  latter  end,  his  faith,  his  meekness,  his 
zeal,  his  wisdom,  his  largeness  of  heart,  his  self-sacrifice, 
his  management  of  men — all  mark  him  out  as  a  man 
in  the  very  foremost  file  of  the  worthies  of  the  world. 
He  had,  under  God,  largely  to  do  with  the  fashioning 
of  the  character,  and  the  imbuing  with  ideas  of  the 
mind  of  a  people  that  has  been  a  mighty  factor  in  the 
world's  history  ;  with  the  management  of  them  in  the 
midst  of  events,  and  under  conditions,  that  have  had  a 
formative  influence  on  them  and  on  the  world,  from 
his  own  day  to  ours. 

This  man  of  so  high  and  lasting  renown  is  here 
spoken  of  in  the  sacred  Word,  at  his  life's  close,  as  the 
servant  of  the  Lord.  We  are  struck  with  the  simplicity 
as  well  as  with  the  dignity  of  the  title.  It  has  its  glory 
not  from  the  designation  "servant,"  but  from  Him 
whose  servant  he  was — the  Lord.     Courtiers  and  kings 


47 

have  their  titles,— MOST  NOBLE,  MOST  GRACIOUS,  MOST 
ELLENT,   ROYAL  IMPERIAL,  and  so  on  ;  but  to  be 

emperor  of  half  Europe  is  to  have  less  enduring  honour 
than  to  be,  in  sincerity  and  truth,  the  L  -servant. 
The  worthies  of  the  race  who  shall  have  everlasting 
honour  have  all  been  the  Lord's  servants.  Moses  and 
David,  [saiah  and  Daniel,  uid  Paul,  have  had  no 

higher  title  than  this  ;  nor  has  the  world  any  loftier 
title  to  bestow,  nor  can  it  bestow  of  right  this  title  on 
any.  It  is  divinely  conferred  when  rightly  conferred. 
And  Moses  had  this  signal  honour:  "Moses  my 
vant  is  dead,"  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua  "Well  d 
good  and  faithful  servant,'1  is  the  welcome  the  saints 
will  get  in  the  great  day  of  G<<d. 

PlSGAH'S  Summit:  A  V  [NT. 

The  circumstances  which  led  up  to  the  >ccnc 
presented  to  us  in  this  chapter,  we  do  not  rehearse. 
Ah  es  here  takes  his  last  look  of  earth,  and  of  earthly 
life.  lie  has  brought  Israel  to  the  borders  of  the 
Promised  Land.  He  has  seen  a  generation  die  in  the 
wilderness.  1  le  has  seen  Aaron  die.  I  Ie  has  seen  his 
own  ardent  hope  of  [Hitting  the  crown  on  his  long  life- 
work — he  has  seen  that  die.  With  what  feelings 
must  he  have  heard  God  say,  "Get  thee  up  into  this 
mountain,  .  .  .  and  behold  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  I 
give  unto  the  children  of  Israel  for  a  possession  :  and 
die  in  the  mount  whither  thou  goest  up,  and  be 
gathered  unto  thy  people  "  !  Xo ;  not  even  his  bones, 
— unlike  those  of  Joseph,  which  Israel  has  been  carry- 
ing with  them  in  a  coffin  all  these  forty  years, — not 
even  his  bones  arc  to  be  carried  across  Jordan  ;  and 
all  this,  he  knows,  is  for  his  sin  !     Doubtless  he  had 


48 

prayed  fervently  that  God  would  grant  him  the  dear- 
est wish  of  his  heart,  that  he  might  yet  lead  Israel 
over :  very  fervently  he  must  have  prayed,  when  God 
had  to  stop  his  mouth  by  saying  to  him,  "  Speak  no 
more  unto  Me  of  this  matter  "  (Deut.  iii.  26). 

The  knowledge  that  his  prayer  was  denied,  the  fact 
that  his  mouth  was  shut  as  regards  this  longing  of  his, 
must  have  burned  deep  into  his  spirit  the  thought  of  his 
sin,  that  day  at  the  rock  in  Kadesh.  What  a  discipline 
this  must  have  been  to  the  imperial  spirit  of  Moses ! 
— worse  to  bear  than  the  thorn  in  the  flesh  given  to 
Paul.  Ah,  what  a  long  dark  shadow  even  one  sin  may 
cast !  What  bitter  disappointment  may  flow  into  the 
life,  and  colour  its  whole  after-current,  in  consequence 
of  one  sin  !  Life,  because  of  it,  may  lose  its  earthly 
crown,  as  in  the  case  of  Moses.  For  him  to  have  led 
Israel  so  far,  and  yet  not  to  enter  the  Promised  Land  ; 
for  him  to  have  tasted  Canaan's  fruit,  to  have  seen 
its  beauty,  to  have  dreamed  many  dreams  about  it, 
and  yet  not  to  enter ;  for  him  to  see  Israel  so  near 
rest,  and  yet  not  to  behold  the  wilderness-wanderers 
enjoying  it  at  last ;  for  him  to  think  of  his  servant 
having  the  privilege,  the  honour  denied  to  himself — 
his  the  toil,  the  patience,  the  frustrated  hope,  and 
Joshua's  the  fruition,  the  reward, — all  this  must  have 
greatly  exercised  the  spirit  of  Moses,  and  doubtless, 
under  God,  have  disciplined  him  much  in  meekness. 
For,  like  Jonathan  with  David,  in  later  days,  so  he 
with  Joshua,  "  he  strengthened  his  hand  in  God."  He 
envied  not ;  he  murmured  not ;  he  accepted  the  chast- 
ening, without  questioning  the  love  and  favour  of  the 
hand  that  afflicted.  So,  at  God's  bidding,  and  with 
all  these  thoughts  in  him,  he  ascends  to  the  highest 
peak  of  the  mountain  of  Nebo,  to  the  top  of  Pisgah, 


49 

and  surveys  the  land.  I  low  far  the  view,  and  how 
fair!  His  eye  was  not  dim,  and  his  eagle  glances 
scanned  the  country  from  Hermon  to  Kadesh,  and 
from  the  deep  trench  of  the  Jordan  valley  to  the  surf- 
beat  coast  of  the  sea. 

What  would  he  not  sec,  when  the  Lord  showed  him 
the  land  !  Galilee  lay  before  him,  and  its  lake,  where, 
in  the  later  days,  sacred  feet  would  tread,  and  words 
and  works  of  grace  would  reveal  God  Himself  as 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  Did  he  mark  the  place,  we 
wonder,  where,  1500  years  later,  he  was  himself  to  be 
seen,  by  astonished  disciples,  along  with  Klias,  beside 
his  transfigured  Lord?  and  Carmel,  Calvary 

and  Olivet,  Shiloh  and  Mizpch,  Jerusalem  and  Beth- 
lehem— there,  before  him,  lay  scenes  which,  by  and  by, 
will  be  filled  with  the  most  memorable  persons  and 
events  of  the  world's  entire  history.  Did  Moses,  as  he 
gazed,  behold,  under  the  Lord's  showing,  aught  <»f  the 
glory  of  that  history  of  which  the  land  he  looked  on 
was  to  be  the  theatre?  Did  the  shadow  <>f  the  cross, 
too,  fall  on  his  spirit?  Did  the  tremor,  as  of  the 
earthquake  that  opened  the  graves  and  released  the 
quickened  saints,  thrill  his  frame?  or  did  the  flash 
of  the  bright  cloud,  that  carried  heavenward  an 
ascending  Saviour,  fill  him  with  a  death-conquering 
sense  of  triumph,  even  now  that  he  was  himself  about 
to  die?  Much  he  saw  with  the  eye  of  sense:  how 
much  with  the  eye  of  the  seer?  Doubtless  his  vision 
filled  his  spirit,  even  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  with  a 
refreshing  such  as  all  "  the  springs  of  Pisgah,"  at  its 
base,  could  not  have  given  to  the  thirsty  Israelites. 

And  there  arc  souls  still,  like  that  of  Moses,  that 
dwell  on  Pisgah's  summit,  and  thence  get  bright  visions 
of  the  Promised  Land.     From  the  peak  of  many  a  pro- 


50 

mise  they  gaze  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Israel's 
inheritance,  with  many  a  prayer  that  they  may  enter 
in,  and  with  a  mighty  yearning.  Oh,  that  they  could 
enter  in  !  Oh,  that  that  Land  of  Promise  might  be 
theirs,  and  theirs  in  their  own  lifetime  !  "  Why  are 
His  chariots  so  long  in  coming  ?  why  tarry  the  wheels 
of  His  chariots  ?  "  Promise  upon  promise,  like  peak 
upon  peak,  make  the  Scriptures  to  them  a  mountain- 
land  of  glorious  outlooks  ;  and  every  summit  shows,  to 
some  of  God's  dear  saints,  a  kingdom  on  earth  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness,  and  Jesus  reigning  among  His 
own  redeemed.  And  how  the  vision  widens,  and 
brightens,  as  they  gaze !  A  world  is  seen  of  millen- 
nial peace,  where  nation  shall  not  war  against  nation  ; 
where  no  man  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Know  the 
Lord,  for  all  shall  know  Him  from  the  least  even  to 
the  greatest.  What  a  scene  they  gaze  on  !  And 
how  contrasted  with  the  sinfulness  and  selfishness,  the 
envy,  cruelty,  passion,  and  vileness  that  now  degrade 
humanity  and  deface  the  earth !  No  wonder  the 
vision  ravishes  ;  no  wonder  the  gazer  on  the  mountain 
peak  cries  out,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 

"  When  creation,  in  her  pangs, 
Heaves  her  heavy  groan  ; 
When  Thy  Salem's  exiled  sons 

Breathe  their  bitter  moan  ; 
WThen  Thy  widowed,  weeping  Church, 

Looking  for  a  home, 
Sendeth  up  her  silent  sigh, 
'  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  ! ' 
Hear  then  in  love,  O  Lord,  the  cry, 
In  heaven,  Thy  dwelling-place  on  high." 

Did  not  our  late  revered  and  beloved  father  and 
pastor  live  on  such  a  Pisgah  summit,  and  gaze  into 


5i 

that  Promised  Land,  and  lone;  with  his  whole  soul  to 
enter  in  ?  Yet  the  King  came  not.  The  prayer,  in 
that  sense,  was  not  answered — the  longing,  under  that 
form,  was  not  satisfied.  Like  Moses  the  servant  of  the 
Lord,  who  died  there  in  the  land  ofMoab,  his  was  the 
vision  only.  Now  death  has  brought  the  transcend- 
ent fulfilment,  and  placed  him,  with  Moses  and  1 
beside  his  transfigured  and  glorified  Lord  in  the  true 
Promised  Land. 

Pisgah's  Sides  \  a  Burial  Pla< 

"So  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  died  there  ill 
the  land   <>!"  Moab.   .   .   .    But   no   man   knowetb  <>f  his 
sepulchre."     No  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre,  for 
buried  him  in  some  valley  or  hollow  of  th 

range,  whose  summits  had  afforded  him  such  glorious 
outlooks  on  the  promised   p  n.      Were  we  to 

moralize  on  this,  we  might  say  th.it  so  it  often  happen-. 
Many  find  their  gra\  by  the  :  u*  to 

the  time  of  their  vision  of  life's  great  inheritance.  The 
hill  whence  they  descry  the  object  of  their  longing 

>mes,  in   ..  Or,  we  might  put  it 

thus  :  The  Pisgah  th.it  reveals  their  life's  goal  becomes 
their  monument  in  death.  This  largely  holds  good  in 
the  lower  departments  of  human  effort,  as  well  as  in 
the  higher.  With  much  toil  men  climb  and  climb 
after  their  heart's  desire.  At  length  they  cry,  n<  :  u  I 
have  found  it,"  but  M  I  have  seen  it,"  and  then  they  die 
— die,  like  Moses,  within  sight  of  the  Promised  Land  ; 
and  the  hill  which,  with  so  much  labour,  they  have 
surmounted  to  obtain  the  vision  becomes  their  monu- 
ment and  grave.  I  low  many,  with  lifelong  toil,  amass 
wealth,  and  having  got  it,  and  just  seen  the  land  it 


52 

opens  up  to  them,  they  die ;  and  their  laboriously 
accumulated  riches  are  their  monument.  So  it  is  with 
learning ;  so  with  all  earthly  good.  Life  is  full  of 
labour  of  this  sort ;  the  close  of  life  is  full  of  such 
visions  of  the  desired,  yet  unattained  ;  and  human 
history  is  a  graveyard  full  of  monuments  of  strenuous- 
effort  and  unsatisfied  desire. 

But  if  we  climb  a  loftier  Pisgah,  and  look  out  on 
nobler  things,  we  shall  have  a  worthier  monument  to 
commemorate  our  striving  and  our  vision.  Faith  in 
God,  like  that  of  Moses,  earnest  prayerfulness,  meek- 
ness, patience,  fortitude,  lifelong  self-sacrifice  for  the 
good  of  others — these,  fostered  and  practised  through- 
out life,  lead  to  a  Pisgah  summit,  whence  glorious  views 
are  seen ;  and  in  their  loved  and  honoured  influence  and 
remembrance  they  form  a  monument  more  lasting  than 
the  mountains  of  Moab.  When  the  heavens  shall  be 
wrapped  together  as  a  scroll,  and  the  earth  is  all  aflame, 
and  the  elements  of  it  are  melting  with  fervent  heat, 
such  a  character  and  life  will  be  held  in  divine  regard, 
and  the  works  they  have  accomplished  will  endure  as 
an  eternal  reward. 

"  No  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre."  Perhaps  the 
object  of  this  was,  not  so  much  the  prevention jDf  an 
idolatrous  reverence  of  the  bones  of  Moses,  as  to  prevent 
their  removal  into  Canaan.  God's  sentence  of  exclu- 
sion must  be  without  any  compromise.  Moses  was 
not  to  enter  the  land  ;  not  even  his  dust  must  be  laid 
there.  His  exiled  remains  must  be  a  lasting  witness 
to  the  severity  of  God  against  the  sin  even  of  a  saint. 
His  illustrious  gifts,  his  extraordinary  services,  cannot 
condone  one  act  of  disobedience.  Atoning  blood  can 
cleanse  from  all  sin,  but  unparalleled  service  cannot 
compound  for  even  one  offence.     It  will  be  good  for 


53 

Israel  to  sec,  and  to  remember,  that  sin  even  in  Moses 
is  sin,  and  heinous  sin  ;  and  that  God,  though  Moses' 
friend,  will  let  the  rod  fall  heavily  upon  him  when  he 
forgets  God's  honour  and  violates  His  command. 

There  may  have  been  another  reason,  too,  why  no 
man  should  know  of  his  sepulchre.  Neither  curiosity, 
nor  reverential  regard  for  his  grave,  had  the)-  known  it, 
nor  the  feeling  of  his  being  only  in  part  removed  from 
them,  had  his  bones  been  brought  into  Canaan,  must 
intervene  between  them  and  their  looking  now  to 
Joshua  as  their  God-given  leader.  There  might  have 
been  such  a  reverence  for  the  dead  as  would  have 
marred    God's    message    and    leading    by    the    living. 

There  might  have  been  such  a  lingering  over  the  grave 

of  Moses,  in  thought  or  in  deed,  as  would  have  hindered 
the  following  of  Joshua,  Such  a  state  of  mind  none 
would  have  more  severely  condemned  than  Moses 
himself;  but  God  made  it  simply,  in  the  literal  sense, 
impossible,  by  keeping  an)-  man  from  knowing  where 
the  grave  of  Moses  was.  And  he  is  but  poorly 
acquainted  with  human  nature  and  very  circumscribed 
in  his  experience  who  does  not  see  the  application 
which  this  fact  has,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  circum- 
stances of  churches  and  congregations  of  all  denom- 
inations. 

If  we  invite  you  to  see  here,  also,  a  local  and  indi- 
vidual application,  let  us  recognize  in  this,  not  the 
arbitrariness  of  the  preacher,  but  rather  one  of  the  wise 
and  loving  purposes  of  Providence,  which  we  are  blind 
if  we  do  not  sec,  and  wilful  if  we  do  not  strive  to  learn. 
When  eminent  pastors  arc  taken  away,  some  of  those 
who  have  been  fed  by  them  with  knowledge  and 
understanding  arc  perhaps  tempted  to  think  that, 
because  the  familiar  pitcher  is  removed,  the  fountain 
E 


54 

itself  is  dry.  Surely,  however,  this  were  to  do  dishon- 
our to  God.  This  were  to  impugn  His  Providence, 
which  removes  us  when  our  work  is  done,  and  appoints 
others  who  still  have  work  to  do.  This  were  to  cast 
discredit  even  on  the  mission  of  a  Moses  himself ;  for 
if  his  service  has  not  ripened  God's  Israel  for  a  differ- 
ent leading,  when  God  shall  see  meet  to  give  it,  one 
great  part  of  the  work  given  him  of  God  to  do  has 
failed  of  accomplishment. 

We  mourn  the  loss  of  the  aged,  the  honoured,  the 
beloved.  We  cherish  their  memory  with  reverence 
and  affection.  But,  none  the  less,  it  is  a  divine  voice 
that  calls  our  tearful  eyes  away  from  the  empty  place, 
or  the  mounded  grave,  and  says,  "  Moses  my  servant 
is  dead ;  now  therefore  arise,  go  over  this  Jordan,  thou, 
and  all  this  people,  unto  the  land  which  I  do  give  to 
them,  even  to  the  children  of  Israel"  (Josh.  i.  2). 

Pisgah's  Base:  Its  Springs. 

We  have  looked  at  the  solitary  figure  on  Pisgah's 
summit,  gazing  across  to  the  longed-for  land.  We 
have  looked,  in  thought,  at  the  unknown  grave  in  the 
ravine  of  Pisgah's  slopes.  We  would  look  yet  again 
at  the  mountain's  base,  and  there  we  see  Ashdoth- 
pisgah — i.e.,  "  the  springs  of  Pisgah  "  (Deut.  iv.  49). 

Pisgah's  summit  commands  visions  of  the  promised 
Canaan.  Pisgah's  slopes  and  base  yield  copious 
springs.  Such  "  springs  "  enable  us  the  better  to  climb 
such  summits ;  and  mountains  which  command  such 
glorious  prospects  are  just  those  which  afford  such 
springs.  Saints  who  live  on  high,  near  to  God,  and 
who  spend  much  of  their  spiritual  strength  in  the  rapt 
contemplation  of  what  the  promises  spread  out  before 


55 

them,  make  of  their  Pisgah  a  well  ;  and  how  copious, 
fresh,  and  gladdening  are  the  springs  that  gush  out 
around  its  base ! 

We,  beloved  brethren,  think  to-day  of  a  Pisgah,  and 
of  one  who  got  thence  many  a  sweet  vision  in  and 
through  the  glorious  promises.  And  we  think,  also, 
of  the  "  wells  "  of  that  Pisgah, — wells  at  which  we,  and 
many,  many  thousands  of  God's  I  rael  besides,  have 
drunk  and  been  refreshed,  and  thereby  been  induced 
to  climb  higher,  and  yet  higher,  into  that  mountain  too. 

We  have  drunk  of  this  Pisgah  spring,  have  we 
not?— 

"  I  beard  the  voice  i 
'  Come  unto  Me,  tad 

)\vn,  thou  weary  one,  lay 
Thy  head  npoo  My  I  I 

Or  that  other  spring, — 

11  I  lay  my  sins  on  J 

Th  FG<  "1  ; 

He  bean  them  all,  and  fa 
l  the  accai 

Or  that  other  spring, — 

11  Here,  O  my  Loid,  I  sec  Thee  face  to  face  ; 

1!   i     M      Id  I  touch  and  handle  things  unseen, 
Here  gra>p  with  firmer  hand  the  eternal  grace, 
And  all  my  weariness  ujx>n  Thee  lean." 


Or  that  other  spring, — 


**  When  the  weary,  seeking  rest, 

To  Thy  goodness  floe  ; 

When  the  heavy-laden  cast 

All  their  load  on  Thee  ; 

When  the  troubled,  seeking  peace, 
On  Thy  name  shall  call ; 


56 

When  the  sinner,  seeking  life, 
At  Thy  feet  shall  fall ; 
Hear  then  in  love,  O  Lord,  the  cry, 
In  heaven,  Thy  dwelling-place  on  high." 

How  many  they  are — these  Pisgah  springs  !  How 
sweet  they  are!  and  how  full  of  the  pure,  precious 
water  of  the  love  of  Christ,  of  the  freeness  and  fulness 
of  His  grace,  of  the  power  of  His  cleansing  and  peace- 
speaking  blood,  of  the  tenderness  and  helpfulness  of 
His  sympathy,  and  of  the  fact  and  issues  of  His 
glorious  coming  again  !  Wells  they  are,  not  at  the 
base  of  the  hill  only,  but  refreshing  to  the  climber  all 
the  way  up  :  rills  from  the  very  fountain  of  life,  from 
the  river  of  God  which  is  full  of  water,  flowing  to  us 
through  him. 

My  beloved  flock,  I  have  not  thought  it  becoming 
to  attempt  any  more  special  reference  to  our  late 
revered  senior  pastor  than  the  consideration  of  such 
a  text  as  this  has  naturally  suggested.  Others,  with 
far  longer  and  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  him, 
of  recognized  position  in  the  sister  Church  in  England, 
and  in  our  own,  have,  in  this  place,  brought  before 
you,  with  some  fulness,  many  of  the  gifts,  and  graces, 
and  services  of  him  who  was  the  first  pastor  of  this 
congregation,  the  able  exponent  and  earnest  defender 
of  evangelical  truth,  and  the  sweetest  singer  God  has 
ever  given  to  our  Scottish  Israel. 

It  would  be  alike  superfluous  and  presumptuous  in 
me  to  attempt  to  add  to  what  they  have  so  well  said, — 
taking  into  account  this  fact  especially,  that,  though 
for  fully  two  years  Dr.  Bonar's  colleague,  his  longf 
continued  and  increasing  feebleness  prevented  my 
enjoying  much  or  close  fellowship  with  him.  But  this 
I  gratefully  testify,  that  always  when  I  did  see  him, — 


57 

with  only  one  or  two  such  exceptions  as  exceeding 
feebleness  occasioned, — he  never  failed  to  pour  out  his 
heart  in  prayer  to  God  for  you,  our  people,  and  for 
me.  The  simplicity  of  these  prayers,  their  tenderness, 
their  large  loving-heartcdness,  and  the  nearness  to 
God  which  they  breathed,  never  failed  to  melt  me,  and 
to  draw  out  my  heart  to  the  dear  old  man,  so  feeble 
in  body,  so  surely  a  prince  with  God. 

I    have    a   deep    sense   of   the   cor  i    being 

greatly  poorer  through  his  removal, — poorer  in  those 
Spiritual  influences  which  his  name  and  his  prayers 
secured  for  us.  But  we  must  think  of  One  on  the  hill 
of  God,  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
for  ever,"  who  knows  our  need,  and  who  can  supply  it  ; 
and  who  prays  for  us  too:  who  can  pour  out  on  US, 
also,  the  Spirit  of  md  of  supplications,  and   give 

us  Pisgah  springs  and  Pisgah  prospects  here,  and  the 
full  fruition  of  the  heavenly  Canaan  by  and  by.      With 

loving,  grateful  memories,  as  we  often  look  back  on 

the  past,  let  us,  also,  reverently  and  hopefully,  listen 
to  this  divine  word  which,  like  a  trumpet,  summons 
soul  and  will  forward  into  the  future, — 

"Moses    my    servant    is    dead;    NOW    THEREF< 
ARISE,  GO  o\  br  this  Jordan,  THOU,  and  all  this 
PLE,   UNTO    Tin:    LAND    WHICH    I    DO    GIVE    TO 
THEM,  EVEN  TO  THE  CHILDREN  0]    ISRAEL." 


5  c  v  m  o  it 


PREACHED  IN  THE  NORTH  PARISH  CHURCH,  AV- 
ON THE 
ERNOON  OF  SAP  RATH,  pd  DECEMBER  tStf, 
BY  THE  RET.  HORATIUS  BONAR, 
BEING  THE  FIRST  SERMON  PREACHED  RY  HIM  AS 
MINISTER  OF  THAT  PARISH 


Set  m  o  it 

By  the  Rkv.  Horatius  Donar,  Kf.lso. 

"  And  lie  said  unto  them,   This  kind  can  come  forth  by  nc: 
y  fray  cr  and  fasting." — Mark  ix.  29. 

My  dear  brethren,  I  do  not  come  to  add  re—  you 
after  the  manner  of  man's  wisdom,  nor  with  words  of 
human  eloquence,  but  to  speak  to  your  souls  of  the 
things  which  concern  your  eternity  ; — to  stir  you  Up  to 
seek  in  good  earnest  salvation  for  yourselves  and  for 
others.  It  is  a  light  thing  that  you  should  be  attr 
and  pleased, — even  were  I  able  to  do  so, — but  it  IS  no 
light  matter  that  you  should  be  moved  to  work  out 
your  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  God  working 
in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  Ili^  g  .  ure.      It  is  a 

light  thing  that  the  admiration  of  many  should  be 
obtained  ;  but  it  is  no  light  matter  that  the  multi: 
who  are  now  far  from  God  should  be  moved  to  return 
to  Him  from  whom  they  "have  revolted  and  gone " 
(Jcr.  v.  23).  The  gratification  of  an  hour  is  all  that 
depends  upon  the  one;  but  eternity, — a  sinner's 
nity, — hangs  upon  the  other. 

Therefore  it  is  that  I  have  chosen  for  this  day's  medi- 
tations, a  subject  which  affords  but  little  scope  for 
eloquence  or  fancy,  but  which  allows  me  a  very  full 
opportunity  of  speaking  simply  and  with  searching 
closeness  of  your  present  religious  state,  and  of  point- 
ing out  to  you  what  our  text  suggests  as  the  remedy 
for  the  very  worst  state  of  spiritual  malady  under 
which  an  individual,  or  a  church,  can  labour.  It  is  for 
this  end  that  I  have  chosen  these  words  to  discourse 


62 

from,  on  the  occasion  of  my  coming  amongst  you,  that 
I  may,  at  the  very  commencement  of  my  ministry, 
declare  what  appears  to  be  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
our  low  and  languid  condition  ; — that  I  may  show  you 
how  much,  how  very  much  depends  upon  the  people  of 
God, — upon  their  "prayer  and  fasting," — in  the  way 
of  securing  the  divine  remedy. 

We  have  need,  my  brethren,  to  look  well  around  us, 
and  to  consider  the  foundations  upon  which  we  are 
building  for  the  life  eternal.  We  have  need  to  look 
within  us,  and  consider  well  what  sort  of  religion  it 
really  is  which  we  profess  ;  what  sort  of  devotion  it  is 
with  which  we  exercise  our  souls.  For  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  much  of  what  is  called  religion  with  us,  is  a 
mere  outward  name — a  shadow,  a  spectre,  with  nothing 
of  solidity  or  life.  The  kind  of  religion  which  men 
now  prefer,  is  that  which  will  not  go  very  deep  into 
their  spiritual  nature,  nor  search  very  narrowly  the 
secret  recesses  of  the  heart.  They  love  a  religion 
somewhat  softened  in  its  aspect  and  outlines,  whose 
doctrines  may  be  well  adorned  and  set  forth  in  words 
of  human  eloquence,  so  as  to  gratify  the  ear  and  attract 
the  fancy.  They  talk  of  prizing  "the  cross,"  it  may 
be, — but  then  it  seems  to  them  too  rude  and  bare  ; 
they  would  have  its  nakedness  covered  over  with  some- 
thing more  of  ornament.  And  thus  adorned,  it  no 
doubt  attracts  the  eye  of  many  who  deemed  it  foolish- 
ness before.  But  then  it  is  the  simple  cross  no  more. 
The  "  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom  "  have  made  it 
of  none  effect  The  faith  of  those  who  thus  receive  it, 
stands  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  and  not  in  the  power  of 
God.  It  speaks  no  more  of  Jesus  only,  and  His  all- 
sufficiency.  It  attracts  many  to  Him  now,  who  are 
not  drawn  of  the  Father  (John  vi.  44). 


63 

These  men,  of  whom  we  are  speaking,  have  no  objec- 
tion to  hear  you  discourse  upon  the  doctrines  of  religion 
and  mysteries  of  faith,  provided  you  do  this  eloquently, 
so  as  to  gratify  their  taste,  and  lead  them  smoothly 
along.  But  search  their  hearts  ;  come  close  to  their 
consciences  ;  strike  deep,  strike  home,  and  straightway 
they  are  offended.  Speak  to  them  of  faith,  and  they 
will  listen  to  you  with  attention,  and  perhaps  commend 
your  discourse  ;  but  tell  them  that  faith  is  altogether  a 
world-overcoming,  self-renouncing  principle  that  hangs 
upon  God  alone  ;  tell  them  that  if  they  have  not  cast 
off  that  world,  renounced  that  self,  and  learned  to  hang 
entirely  upon  God,  their  religion  is  but  a  name,  their 
faith  a  mocker)-,  and  they  will  turn  away  in  weariness, 
if  not  in  disgust.  Speak  to  them  of  prayer, — its  nature, 
its  reasonableness,  its  duty, — and  they  will  give  all 
heed  to  your  address  ;  but  call  upon  them  solemnly  to 
2.  life  of 'prayer  and  heavenly  fellowship, — tell  them  that 
prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath,  the  Christian's 
native  air, — speak  to  them  closely  of  the  example  of 
our  Lord,  who  spent  whole  nights  in  prayer  upon  the 
solitary  mountains,  and  they  will  smile  at  your  enthu- 
siasm, or  be  offended  at  your  importunity. 

Now,  it  is  just  in  order  to  expose  this  false  appetite 
in  religion, — this  false  taste  in  devotion, — that  we  must 
bring  the  plain  and  naked  truth  to  bear  upon  their 
consciences,  that  they  may  see  how  much  of  this  reli- 
gion of  theirs  consists  merely  in  a  desire  to  be  gratified. 
We  must  go  at  once  to  the  root  of  the  matter, — to  the 
very  vitals  of  the  Christian  life,  and  lay  them  all  before 
the  eye.  W'c  must  take  men  from  general  discoursing 
about  Christ,  to  Christ  Himself — to  His  life  as  the  model 
of  theirs.     We  must  take  them  to  His  labours,  to  His 


64 

prayers,  to  His  fastings,  and  ask  them  wherein  they 
have  walked  in  His  footsteps,  or  approved  themselves 
His  followers.  We  must  take  them  to  the  high  ex- 
amples of  patriarchs,  of  prophets,  and  apostles,  and 
show  how  they  walked  with  God  in  prayer.  We  must 
take  them  to  the  Christian's  closet,  and  show  them  his 
hidden  life,  his  hidden  intercourse  with  God,  his  joys 
and  his  sorrows,  of  which  the  world  knows  nothing, 
and  with  which  it  cannot  intermeddle.  When  lament- 
ing that  there  is  such  a  melancholy  deficiency  in  the 
warmth,  the  simplicity,  the  zeal  of  our  day ;  when 
complaining  of  the  abounding  iniquity  on  every  side, 
we  would  remind  them  that  it  is  not  by  complaints 
and  lamentations  that  this  deficiency  is  to  be  supplied  ; 
that  there  is  another  and  more  efficacious  remedy  put 
into  their  hands  by  God, — that  "  this  kind  goeth  not 
out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting." 

The  original  allusion  in  our  text  was,  as  you  are 
aware,  to  the  casting  out  of  devils.  A  case  had  been 
brought  to  the  disciples, — one  of  the  most  virulent 
and  malignant  kind.  A  father  had  brought  his  son  to 
the  disciples,  possessed  with  a  devil,  and  in  the  most 
deplorable  circumstances.  The  disciples  were  unable 
to  cast  him  out.  It  was  a  case  too  peculiar  and  too 
hard  for  them.  The  young  man  was  then  brought  to 
Jesus  immediately  upon  His  descent  from  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration.  Jesus,  after  reproving  the  faith- 
lessness of  His  disciples,  spake  to  the  unclean  spirit, 
which  came  forth  at  His  command.  When  He  came 
into  the  house,  after  performing  the  cure,  His  disciples 
asked  Him  privately,  "Why  could  we  not  cast  him 
out  ?  "  He  told  them,  that  this  was  a  case  of  the  worst 
and  most  hopeless  kind,  and  that  it,  therefore,  required 
greater  faith  than  was  necessary  in  other  cases  ; — "  This 


65 

kind,"  says  He,  "can  come  forth  by  nothing  but  by 
prayer  and  fasting." 

Though  the  circumstances  of  this  case  are  different 
from  anything  which  now  takes  place  amongst  us, 
yet  the  principle  upon  which  our  Lord's  remark  is 
founded  remains  the  same.  Though  Satan  is  no  longer 
permitted  visibly  to  take  possession  of  and  exercise  his 
cruel  power  over  the  bodies  of  men,  there  is  a  mighty 
influence  which  he  still  possesses.  Though  he  was 
seen  like  lightning  falling  from  heaven,  yet  it  was 
only  that  he  might  come  down  to  the  earth,  "  having 
great  wrath,  because  he  knowcth  that  he  hath  but  a 
short  time"  (Rev.  xii.  12;.  He  is  working  with  all  the 
power  of  his  consummate  craft  to  lead  men  captive  at 
his  will,  and  to  deceive,  if  it  were  possible,  the  very 
elect.  Manifold  arc  his  wiles.  I  [e  works  secretly  now, 
indeed,  not  openly  as  in  former  ages  ;  yet,  not  the  less 
on  that  account  arc  his  snares  to  be  dreaded,  yea,  all 
the  more,  because  he  has  hidden  from  the  eye  of  sense 
his  own  revolting  aspect,  and  taken  on  the  veil  of  an 
angel  of  light.  lie  sees  some  professors  careless,  and 
he  lulls  them  into  still  deeper  slumber  by  making  them 
believe  that  all  is  well.  I  le  sees  others  with  a  fair  and 
honourable  character  among  men,  and  he  persuader 
them  that,  having  this,  they  need  no  more.  He  sees 
others  following  the  full  external  round  of  religious 
duty,  that  with  the  more  contentment  they  may  pursue 
their  career  of  worldlincss,  and  he  persuades  them  that 
it  is  foolish  and  unscriptural  to  be  righteous  overmuch. 
He  sees  others  zealous  in  the  faith,  and  his  plan  is  to 
lead  them  over  the  limits  of  sobriety  into  the  paths  of 
error  and  delusion.  He  sees  others  restless  in  feeling 
and  unstable  in  opinion,  and  he  urges  them  on  in  pur- 
suit  of  novelties   in    doctrine   in    order  to    feed    that 


66 

excitement  which  may  keep  them  from  following  "  the 
footsteps  of  the  flock"  (Song  i.  8).  He  sees  others 
timorous  and  slothful,  and  by  beguiling  them  into  the 
belief  that  it  would  be  presumption  in  them  to  adopt 
any  opinions  not  sanctioned  by  "the  majority,"  he  keeps 
them  from  founding  their  belief  on  Scripture  alone,  and 
causes  them  to  steal  the  words  of  the  Lord  every  one 
from  his  neighbour  (Jer.  xxiii.  30).  He  sees  others 
zealous  to  maintain  good  works,  and  he  tells  them  that 
private  devotion  is  quite  a  secondary  thing,  to  be  gone 
about  at  leisure  hours,  and  that  their  work  can  be 
accomplished  as  well  without  prayer  and  fasting  as 
with  it.  Others  he  finds  willing  enough  to  do  some- 
thing, but  afraid  almost  to  stir  a  finger  lest  they  offend 
others,  and  he  strives  to  bring  those  men  still  more 
under  the  slavery  of  public  opinion,  so  that,  unless 
seconded  by  it,  they  are  afraid  to  move  a  single  step 
or  utter  a  single  word. 

But  let  me  make  a  fuller  application  of  the  text ; 
showing  how  the  expression,  "  this  kind,"  refers  to  our 
own  spiritual  circumstances,  and  pointing  out  the  great 
and  efficacious  remedy  suggested  by  our  Lord  for  such 
cases, — "  this  kind  can  come  forth  by  nothing  but  by 
prayer  and  fasting."  Now,  as  the  irreligion  of  our  day 
is  of  much  deeper  root  and  stronger  texture  than  that 
of  former  times,  so  must  the  means  for  removing  it  be 
more  vigorous  and  decisive.  Whatever  might  have 
formerly  availed  for  effecting  the  cure,  nothing  now  will 
be  of  service  but  the  strongest  measures.  The  disease 
is  more  malignant ;  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome  are 
greater  than  ever  ;  for  "  in  the  last  days  perilous  times 
shall  come  :  "  "Little  children,  it  is  the  last  time,  and  as 
ye  have  heard  that  antichrist  shall  come,  even  now  are 
there  many  antichrists  ;  whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the 
last  time"  (2  Tim.  iii.  1  ;  1  John  ii.  18). 


67 

First,  then,  let  me  observe,  the  unbelief  of  our  day  is 
one  of  the  most  formidable  obstacles  which  lie  in  our 
way.  By  unbelief,  I  do  not  mean  that  bold  infidelity 
which  has  so  extensively  lifted  its  front  amongst  u  I 
Bpeak  of  that  subtlety  of  Satan  whereby  he  has  con- 
trived to  rob  spiritual  things  of  all  their  power  and 
reality  ;  and  if  not  to  lead  us  to  doubt  of  their  exist- 
ence, at  least  to  withdraw  us  from  their  close  contact 
and  immediate  influence;  to  deprive  them  of  their 
personality,  and  to  present  them  to  us  a  .  airy 

abstractions,  which   float  through   the  under     . 
but  which  never  close  round  the  heart. 

•i belief  is  the  opj  f  faith  ;  and  faith  i- 

by  the  apostle  to  be  "the  substanee  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  Unbelief,  then, 
is  that  which  reduces  things  hoped  for  to  a  sha 
and  takes  from  us  the  demonstration  of  things  not 
seen.  It  is  this  consummation  of  his  hellish  craft  that 
Satan  is  now  seeking  to  achieve.  The  world  is  not 
yet  ripe  for  denying  God  with  the  open  lip,  and  throw- 
ing i  ether  the  yoke  of  spiritual  things.  His 
object,  therefore,  is  to  remove  the  substance  while  he 
allows  u  .in  the  shadow;  to  extract  the  jewels 
while  he  lets  us  keep  the  casket;  to  destroy  "the 
power  "  while  he  suffers  US  to  retain  "  the  name."  This 
is  unbelief  in  its  subtlest  and  most  specious  form — 
eating  out  the  vitals  of  religion,  while  the  .skeleton 
stands  entire  in  every  joint  and  bone.  He  seems,  at 
last,  to  have  discovered  wherein  the  mighty  strength 
of  Christianity  lay  ; — even  in  the  closeness  of  that 
contact  with  the  world  unseen  into  which  it  brings  us, 
and  the  consequent  influence  which  things  spiritual 
thus  possess  over  every  meaner  hope  and  joy.  He  is, 
therefore,  now  busied  in  removing  these  realities  to  a 
distance,  that  he  may  neutralize  the  power  of  the  reli- 


68 

gion  of  Christ  Both  heaven  and  hell  is  he  seeking  to 
convert  into  shadows  ;  and  even  to  hide  himself  from 
the  eye  of  men ;  persuading  them  to  doubt  his  own 
existence,  and  to  deny  his  personality ;  pointing  the 
jest  against  himself,  and  scoffing  at  men's  notions  of 
his  power  and  presence,  as  the  dreams  of  the  credulous, 
the  dregs  of  a  darker  time,  too  gross  and  irrational  for 
an  enlightened  age  like  this! 

He  is  interposing  a  veil  between  things  possessed 
and  things  hoped  for, — and  that  is  unbelief.  He  is 
drawing  an  impassable  gulf  between  things  seen  and 
unseen, — and  that  is  unbelief.  He  is  cutting  off  the 
communication  between  time  and  eternity,  severing 
the  link  that  bound  the  two  together, — and  that  is 
unbelief.  He  is  persuading  us  that  the  present  is  the 
only  substantial  reality,  and  the  future  but  a  dim  and 
distant  shadow, — a  possibility,  or,  at  the  most,  a  proba- 
bility, but  not  a  certainty  ; — and  that  is  unbelief.  The 
mighty  work  of  unbelief,  however,  which  he  is  especially 
striving  to  effect,  is  to  draw  a  veil  between  us  and  Christ. 
This  is  the  grand  design  which  he  seems  especially  to 
be  labouring  to  effect  in  these  last  days.  To  separate 
Christ  from  the  world,  and  the  world  from  Christ,  yea, 
to  take  Christ  out  of  the  world  altogether,  and  to  make 
us  believe  we  can  do  well  enough  without  Him, — this, 
this  is  especially  his  aim  !  To  take  Christ  out  of  our 
religion,  out  of  our  theology,  out  of  our  education,  out 
of  our  government,  out  of  our  thoughts  and  hearts,— 
this  he  labours  by  every  agency  to  effect ! 

Well  has  he  succeeded  !  With  the  withering  blight 
of  this  awful  unbelief  has  he  laid  waste  many  a  fair 
portion  of  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  I  appeal  to  you, 
my  brethren,  who  know  something  of  the  reality  of 
spiritual  things,  if  you  have  not,  in  some  measure,  felt 
the  ruinous  influence  of  this  devastating  curse  ?     There 


6g 

arc  some  of  you,  I  am  sure,  if  not  man)-,  who  have 
often  said  to  yourselves,  and,  perhaps,  remarked  to 
others, — u  surely  something  is  wrong  with  us  ; — there 
is  a  chilling,  straitening  influence  abroad, — the  water 
of  life  flows  languidly  along,  as  if  it  were  drying  up, — 
the  pastures  are  scared  ; — a  cloud  seem-  t<»  be  drawn 
over  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  so  that  we  feel  not  now, 
as  once  our  fathers  did,  the  genial  warmth  and  bright- 
ness  of  His  healing  wings."  Have  you  not  often, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  given  vent  to  feelings  >uch  as 
these?  And,  when  in  much  disquietude  <>f  sou!. 
have  anxiously  asked  yourselves,  what  can  be  the 
reason  of  all  this?  you  have  made  many  a  conjecture 
as  to  the  cause  of  such  a  state  of  thin.  bing  it  to 

this  circumstance  and  that, — to  this  and  that  event, — 
to  your  own  deficiency  or  to  the  feebleness  and  rcmiss- 
re  set  over  you.  Have  you  not? 
Well,  and  were  you  satisfied  with  your  reasons?  were 
you  convinced  that  you  had  discovered  the  very  root  of 
the  evil  ?  Or,  were  you  not,  after  all,  compelled  to  feel 
that  there  was  still  something  about  it  which  you  could 
not  comprehend  ? 

In  such  circumstances,  were  you  never  led  to  con- 
jecture that  there  might  be  a  work  of  the  evil  one  in 
all  this  ; — a  deep-laid  and  well-veiled  device  for  marring 
your  whole  work  without  manifestly  interfering  at  all  ? 
Were  your  eyes  never  opened  to  see  the  snare  of 
unbelief  in  which  he  is  now  so  skilfully  entangling  his 
thousands? — to  see  how  his  object  is  to  cut  off  all 
communication  between  you  and  your  God,  to  eat  out 
the  core  of  that  faith  which  is  the  very  substance  of 
things  hoped  for?  Yes,  my  brethren,  search  and  see 
if  this  be  not  Satan's  mighty  snare,— if  this  be  not  the 
influence  with  which  he  has  infected  the  atmosphere 

F 


7o 

all  around  you.  This  is  the  reason  why  you  draw  the 
breath  of  spiritual  life  so  heavily  and  with  such  an 
oppressive  effort.  This  is  the  reason  why  your  eye  is 
oftentimes  so  dim  and  clouded  that  you  cannot  see 
afar  off,  nor  realize,  with  any  vividness  of  spiritual 
perception,  the  glory  that  is  yet  to  be  revealed.  Satan 
has  clouded  the  atmosphere  with  that  hellish  vapour 
which  makes  you  breathe  so  heavily,  and  drawn  over 
your  eyes  that  specious  veil  which  so  effectually,  though 
unconsciously,  contracts  your  vision. 

And  what,  my  brethren,  are  you  to  do,  with  such  a 
withering,  darkening  influence  abroad  ?  Who  shall 
give  you  power  to  pierce  these  overshadowing  clouds, 
and  rise  above  the  region  of  their  oppressive  vapours  ? 
How  shall  you  once  more  breathe  the  fresh  air  of 
heaven,  and  rejoice  in  the  purity  of  its  blessed  light, — 
regain  your  lost  freshness  of  vision,  and  look  freely 
out  once  more  upon  the  morning  star  ?  My  brethren, 
the  remedy  is  at  hand  :  "  Prayer  and  fasting ;" — here 
is' the  appointed  cure, — the  cure  which  God  has  put 
into  your  hands,  and  of  whose  efficacy  He  has  assured 
you.  I  do  not  mean,  at  this  time,  to  enter  into  the 
illustration  of  these  particular  duties, — both  of  which 
are  too  exactly  specified  to  allow  us  to  suppose  that 
eitJier  can  be  spared.  You  understand  generally  what 
they  are ;  and  there  is  not  so  much  necessity  for 
explaining  their  nature  as  for  enforcing  their  practice. 
It  is  to  the  latter,  then,  rather  than  to  the  former  point 
that  I  wish  to  turn  your  thoughts. 

Here,  then,  is  the  evil  on  the  one  hand,  and  here  is 
the  cure  on  the  other.  You  feel  and  lament  the  disease, 
will  you  not  put  forth  the  hand  and  apply  the  remedy? 
You  have  often,  it  may  be,  said  to  yourselves  in  weari- 
ness and  disappointment,  "  It  is  all  in  vain  ;  I  labour, 
but  there  is  no  fruit ;  I  plan  and  strive,  but  there  is  no 


71 

profit."  And  why  is  it  thus  ?  why  is  your  way  hedged 
up  with  thorn  H  -ea  ii.  6),  and  why  arc  the  steps 
of  your  strength  straitened  ?  f  Job  xviii.  7).  Because  you 
have  stinted  your  prayers  and  fas  tings,  and  perhaps  also 
worshipped  the  labour  of  your  own  hands.  "  Hitherto 
ye  have  asked  nothing  in  My  name."  You  thought  it 
enough  if  you  were  active  and  zealous  ;  or,  at  least,  if 
you  asked  the  general,  customary  blessing  upon  your 
labours.  But  the  heavens  arc  iron  and  brass  ;  hard  and 
impenetrable:  and  how  can  you  expect  your  customary, 
cold  petitions  to  pierce  so  dark,  so  dense  a  ma 
covering?  No;  it  is  not  by  a  few  general,  forma] 
prayers  that  this  withering  blight  of  unbelief  is  to  be 
charmed  out  of  our  atmosphere.  It  is  by  being  instant 
in  prayer  day  and  night  ;  <ming  many  an  hour 

for  prayer  which  we  arc  wont  to  spend  in  vanity,  or 
even,  it  may  be,  in  the  acquisition  of  what  we  may  call 
"useful  knowledge;"  it  is  by  praying  as  individuals, 
by  praying  as  families,  by  uniting  in  prayer  with 
other,  that  this  great  work  is  to  be  accomplished  ;  "for 
this  kind  can  come  forth  by  nothing  but  by  prayer  and 

fasting." 

I  have  told  you,  my  brethren,  that  :  a  blight 

shed  over  us  by  Satan  ;  that  the  Prince  of  the  p 
of  the  air  has  infected  the  very  atmosphere  with  his 
oppressive  influence.  But  I  would  also  tell  you,  that 
above  and  beyond  this  unbelieving  atmosphere,  there 
is  a  cloud  charged  with  heaven's  own  refreshing  rain  ; 
a  cloud  which  God  has  hung  above  this  land  of  ours, 
and  which  in  mercy  lie  still  keeps  suspended  there, 
full  of  genial  showers.  It  is  to  draw  down  the  riches 
of  that  cloud  that  we  call  you  to  prayer  and  fasting. 
And  shall  I  tell  you,  that  there  is  such  a  glorious 
cloud  floating  above  you,  and  shall  you  not  be  anxious 
to  draw  down  upon  yourselves  the  plenteous  showers 


72 

of  heaven,  that  "  the  parched  ground  may  become  a 
pool,  and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of  water"?  Impos- 
sible !  You  must  surely  be  desirous  of  blessings  so 
rich  and  plenteous.  Let  then  your  prayer  and  fasting 
come  up  before  God,  like  the  prayer  of  Elijah  upon 
Mount  Carmel,  even  until  seven  times,  and  be  assured 
there  shall  come  an  abundant  rain.  The  showers  of 
heaven  shall  descend  upon  us, — upon  our  church,  upon 
our  nation,  upon  our  parish,  upon  our  schools,  upon  our 
families !  Is  this  not  worth  the  praying  for,  even  though 
our  faith  should  be  tried  for  many  a  weary  day  and 
hour  ?  "  Oh,  it  is  already  (to  use  the  language  of 
another)  as  if  heaven  had  begun  to  close  upon  us. 
How  sparingly  does  the  dew  of  the  Spirit  fall.  How 
few  arise  from  the  dead  ;  and  how  long  is  it  since  a 
plenteous  shower  of  heavenly  rain  has  refreshed  us. 
My  friends,  what  is  the  cause  of  this  ?  Has  an  Elijah 
stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  us  with  his  word,  '  As  the 
Lord  liveth,  there  shall  not  be  dew  nor  rain  three  years.' 
Or  does  Elijah  sleep,  forgetting  to  re-open  what  was 
shut  up  ?  Church  of  God,  thou  little  flock  of  Israel, 
thou  people  of  His  possession,  thou  art  as  Elijah ! 
Yes,  thy  voice  can  call  forth  clouds  of  rain.  Arise  and 
call  upon  thy  God." 

Second.  The  deadness  and  apathy  of  our  day  may 
be  comprehended  in  the  words  of  our  text,  as  things 
which  come  not  forth  but  by  prayer  and  fasting. 
These  points  we  shall  touch  but  briefly,  as  we  have 
already  in  part  noticed  them  under  our  former  head. 
Our  valley  is  truly  a  valley  of  dry  bones, — exceeding 
many  and  exceeding  dry.  There  is  not  only  a  blight 
upon  the  pastures,  but  there  is  an  absolute  dearth. 
The  absence  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  is  most  deplor- 
ably felt  in  the  utter  coldness  and  lifelessness  which 
are  shed  over  us.     The  external  aspect  of  the  frame  is 


n 

fair  and  goodly,  but  the  pulse  has  ceased  to  throb,  the 
blood  has  ceased  to  circulate,  the  living  spirit  is  away. 
The  outward  form  of  the  temple  is  still  preserved  ; — 
its  walls,  its  courts,  its  priests,  its  altars,  its  sacrifices  ; 
— but  the  Shekinah  has  departed. 

We  preach  ; — but  where  are  the  living  words  that 
once  poured  themselves  from  lips  touched  with  fire 
from  the  ever-burning  altar  ; — words  which  not  merely 
"took  with  ravishment  the  thronging  audience,"  but 
which,  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword,  penetrated  the 
very  soul  and  spirit  ?  You  hear  ; — but  where  are  the 
hungry,  thirsty  souls  that  used  to  drink  in  refreshment 
from  the  preacher's  lips,  and  go  home  rejoicing  in  the 
goodness  of  God's  holy  place?  You  receive  the  sacra- 
ments ; — but  where  is  the  strength  imparted  from  that 
consecrated  bread, — the  overflowing  joy  communicated 
by  that  hallowed  wine  ; — when  men's  feet  were  made 
"like  hind's  feet"  (Ps.  xviii.  33),  treading  upon  the 
high  places  of  the  earth,  and  having  the  range  of 
mountains  for  their  pastures?  (Job  xxxix.  8),  You 
read  the  sacred  word  ; — but  where  is  the  reviving  power 
with  which  every  syllable  was  wont  to  overflow  ?  Y<  <u 
pray  ; — but  where  is  the  breathing  of  the  spirit,  the 
bursting  forth  of  the  soul,  the  prostration  of  the  v.' 
man  ?  You  labour  in  your  works  of  piety  among  old 
and  young; — but  where  are  the  glorious  effects  once 
felt  among  us,  when  old  and  young  were  melted  into 
penitence  and  dissolved  in  love?  You  name  the  name 
of  Jesus; — but  even  that  name  seems  to  have  lost  its 
quickening  power  in  your  mouths. 

This  kind  then  can  come  forth  by  nothing  but  by 
prayer  and  fasting.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  we  can 
expect  this  death-like  apathy  to  be  removed,  and  life 
diffused  once  more  through  the  chambers  of  death. 
And,  oh,  if  the  people  of  God  who  can  prize  in  some 


74 

measure  the  value  of  spiritual  blessings,  would  but  set 
themselves  in  good  earnest  by  prayer  and  fasting  to 
implore  them  ;  if  they  who  fear  the  Lord  would  speak 
often  one  to  another,  then  would  the  Lord  hearken  and 
hear  (Mai.  iii.  16),  and  they  should  receive  for  them- 
selves, for  their  families,  for  their  church,  for  their  nation, 
for  the  world,  the  abundance  of  spiritual  life  and  health 
according  to  our  Saviour's  promise,  which  abides  still 
the  same  to  us  as  to  the  church  of  old, — "  If  two  of  you 
shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  any  thing  that  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  "  (Matt,  xviii.  19).  Ask,  then,  and  ye  shall 
receive.  Ask  life,  and  ye  shall  have  it,  both  for  your- 
selves and  for  as  many  as  you  intercede  for.  Ask  a 
revival,  and  ye  shall  have  it.  Ask  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
He  shall  be  given  unto  you  (Luke  xi.  13).  All  things 
whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer  believing  ye  shall 
receive. 

I  intended  to  have  gone  over  several  other  particu- 
lars, which  we  might  include  under  the  expression 
"  this  kind  ; " — several  other  evils  which  are  not  to  be 
removed,  several  other  blessings  which  are  not  to  be 
obtained  but  by  "  prayer  and  fasting."  I  intended  to 
have  laid  before  you  the  spirit  of  worldliness  which  pre- 
vails so  fatally  amongst  us  ;  the  frivolity  and  folly,  the 
vanity  and  show  which  scatter  everything  like  serious 
thought  and  incapacitate  the  soul  for  communion  with 
heavenly  things ;  that  false  charity  which  thinks  no 
man  the  worse  for  his  religious  opinions  however  un- 
scriptural ;  that  religious  indifference  which  treats  doc- 
trinal opinions  as  the  mere  wranglings  of  controversy, 
which,  while  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony  it 
would  exclude  religion  whenever  it  might  give  offence, 
would  overturn  the  world  sooner  than  give  up  one 
tittle  of  its  opinions  in  any  secular  matter ;  that  subtle 


75 

scepticism, — Satan's  subtlest  delusion  as  it  is  his  last, — 
which  says,  "  After  all,  there  can  be  no  certainty  for 
fallible  man,  and  perhaps  I  who  believe  in  the  .Bible 
may  be  wrong,  and  my  neighbour  who  denies  it  may  be 
right."  These  prevalent  evils  I  might  have  noticed 
had  time  not  failed  me.  But  I  must  leave  you  to  ex- 
tract from  what  I  have  already  said  the  application  of 
my  text  to  these  different  topics.  These  can  come 
forth  by  nothing  but  by  prayer  and  fasting. 

In  concluding,  I  cannot  help  again  calling  your 
thoughts  to  the  solemn  duties  here  set  before 
They  are  duties  which,  however  carelessly  and  imper- 
fectly attended  to  by  many,  who  have  a  high  and  fair 
profession,  are  yet  duties  without  which  we  have  no 
right  to  expect  the  blessings  which  we  profess  to 
desire  It  is  not  mere  bustling  and  >peaking  that  will 
bringdown  the  blessing.  It  i^  not  the  wisdom  of  our 
s<  hemes,  it  is  not  the  earnestness  <>f  our  zeal,  it  is  not 
the  favourable  position  of  our  circumstances,  it  is  not 
any  nor  all  these  together  that  will  draw  down  the 
promised   grace.     The)'  are    right   and   pr  :  thy, 

but  they  are  not  the  blessing.  It  is  a  matter  <  >f  devout 
acknowledgment  to  God  that  even  those  things  remain, 
— but  still  they  are  not  the  promised  Spirit.  There- 
fore, while  we  plan  and  labour  and  .ire  zealous  in  this 
best  of  works,  let  US  never  forget  that  the  obstacles  we 
have  to  encounter,  the  enemies  we  have  to  face,  are  not 
to  be  surmounted  in  this  way  alone.  Let  us  remember 
that  this  kind  cometh  not  out  but  by  prayer  and 
fasting. 

Here  then,  my  brethren,  is  your  stronghold,  your 
refuge,  your  weapons  of  war.  Here  is  the  "  tower  of 
David  builded  for  an  armour)-,  whereon  there  hang  a 
thousand  bucklers,  all  shields  of  mighty  men  "  (Song 
iv.  4), — of  men  who  through  the  prayer  of  faith  have 


76 

been  made  strong  out  of  weakness,  have  waxed  valiant 
in  fight,  and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens 
(Heb.  xi.  34).  By  this  we  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the 
devil.  By  this  we  wrestle,  not  merely  with  flesh  and 
blood,  but  with  principalities  and  powers,  with  the  rulers 
of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  with  spiritual  wickedness 
in  high  places.  Tis  prayer  then  that  puts  on  the  whole 
armour  of  God  ;  'tis  prayer  that  girds  up  the  loins  of 
your  mind  ;  'tis  prayer  that  feeds  your  lamps  and  keeps 
them  alway  burning.  'Tis  prayer  that  burnishes  the 
breast-plate  of  righteousness,  the  shield  of  faith,  the 
helmet  of  salvation.  'Tis  prayer  that  edges  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  and  makes  it  quick  and  powerful.  'Tis 
prayer  that  sustains  us  in  every  conflict  and  gives  us  at 
last  the  victory  as  it  gave  to  Jacob  of  old,  when,  after 
wrestling  all  night  with  God  at  Peniel,  he  exclaimed,. 
"  I  will  not  let  Thee  go,  except  Thou  bless  me." 

In  coming  amongst  you  here,  my  brethren,  the  first 
thing  I  ask  of  you  is  your  prayers.  Not  your  custom- 
ary, your  general,  your  formal  prayers.  Keep  these 
idle  compliments, — these  regular,  it  may  be,  but  too- 
often  unmeaning  pieces  of  courtesy,  to  yourselves. 
These  I  ask  not.  If  these  are  all  you  have  to  give,  I 
shall  be  poor  indeed.  If  I  have  nothing  but  these  to 
hold  up  my  feeble  hands,  how  shall  Israel's  victory 
over  Amalek  be  ours?  What  I  ask  is  your  earnest, 
your  unwearied,  your  believing,  wrestling  prayers. 
Nothing  else  will  do,  for  "this  kind  cometh  out  by 
nothing  but  by  prayer  and  fasting." 

Oh,  my  brethren,  if  thus  we  were  to  meet  each  other 
every  Sabbath  day,  what  might  not  these  days  of  rest 
be  to  us  ? — days  of  refreshing, — days  of  unearthly  joy, 
earnests  of  the  everlasting  day !  If  thus  we  were  to 
come  together  into  the  sanctuary,  what  might  not  be 
the  blessing  expected,  the  wonders  done  in  the  midst  of 


us  by  the  right  hand  of  God  !  If  our  sermons  were,  so 
to  speak,  the  concentrated  essence  of  a  whole  week's 
prayers  ;  if  your  hearts  were  the  prepared  soil  of  a 
whole  week's  converse  with  your  Bible  and  your  God, 
what  might  not  our  meetings  here  be  on  each  returning 
Sabbath  !  What  might  not  this  place  be  to  us  all, — 
V  me  other  but  the  house  of  God,  yea  the  very  gate 
of  heaven."  What  might  not  be  the  blessing  which 
would  overflow  upon  all  around  us  ; — upon  the  careless 
professor,  upon  the  unconverted  multitude,  upon  the 
old  and  upon  the  upon  our  church,  our  schools, 

our  whole  parish  together  !  Thus  would  we  grow  in 
grace  and  strength,  rising  to  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  perfect  men  in  Christ.  Thus  would  we  triumph 
over  every  difficulty,  every  obstacle,  every  opposition. 
Thus  would  we  silence  the  gainsayer,  and  find  that 
M  when  a  man's  ways  please  the  L  :  :.  1 1  !  makcth  - 
his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him"  (Prov.  x\ 
Thus  would  we  know  the  walk  of  faith,  and  learn  the 
life  of  love, — that  love  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law 
— that  love  which  suffcrcth  long  and  is  kind,  which 
envieth  not,  which  vauntcth  not  itself,  which  is  not 
puffed  up,  which  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  which 
seckcth  not  her  own,  which  is  not  easily  provoked, 
which  thinkcth  no  evil,  which  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity, 
but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth,  which  beareth  all  things 
belicvcth  all  things  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things,  which  never  failcth  (i  Cor.  xiii.  4  -S  .  Thus 
would  we  be  united  in  inseparable  bonds,  being  of  one 
heart  and  of  one  soul  ; — thus  would  we  enjoy  and 
impart  the  blessing. 

To  this,  then,  my  brethren,  I  call  you,  at  the  very 
outset  of  my  ministry  among  you,  that  through  your 
prayers  and  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  may 
come  to  you  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel 


78 

of  Christ  It  is  to  prayer  I  urge  you — to  prayer  and 
fasting — to  prayer  as  the  appointed  remedy  for  all  those 
spiritual  maladies  which  we  profess  to  lament — to 
prayer  as  the  means  of  a  revival  in  the  midst  of  us — to 
prayer  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
the  strength  of  that  Holy  Spirit  who  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us  with  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered — to 
prayer  for  yourselves,  prayer  for  your  nation,  prayer 
for  your  church,  prayer  for  your  parish,  prayer  for  me! 
Come  then,  my  people,  enter  into  thy  chambers 
and  shut  thy  doors  about  thee  until  the  indignation  be 
overpast  (Isa.  xxvi.  20).  Amid  the  coldness  of  a 
decaying  world,  here  find  vitality  and  warmth.  Amid 
the  withering  blight  of  a  false-hearted  profession,  here 
find  sincerity  and  vigour.  Amid  the  unbelief  and 
emptiness  of  a  world  that  has  forgotten  its  eternal 
destiny,  here  find  reality  and  substance.  Amid  the 
profane  indifference  of  men,  who  have  cast  off  the  love 
of  Christ  and  make  no  difference  between  His  friends 
and  foes,  here  find  decision  and  devotedness.  Amid 
the  vanity,  the  folly,  the  frivolity,  the  abounding 
wickedness  of  a  world  now  ripe  for  judgment  and 
preparing  for  the  slaughter,  here  take  your  stand  and 
be  strong  in  the  Lord.  Amid  the  lukewarmness  of  a 
Laodicean  church,  here  find  animation  and  zeal.  And 
in  the  prospect  of  the  gathering  storm,  that  is  to  deso- 
late the  earth,  foretelling  the  speedy  Advent  of  the 
Son  of  man  (Luke  xxi.  25-28,  Rev.  xvi.  13-15),  here 
find  security  and  shelter,  protection  and  peace  ;  for 
"because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  My  patience,  I 
also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which 
shall  come  upon  all  the  world,  to  try  them  that  dwell 
upon  the  earth.  Behold  I  come  quickly :  hold  that 
fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown" 
(Rev.  iii.  10). 


£  c  v  in  o  n 


PREACHED  IN  CHALMERS  MEMORIAL  CHURCH, 

GRANGE,  EDINBURGH, 

ON  THE 

MORNING  OF  SABBA  TH,   nth  SEPTEMBER  1SS7, 

BY  THE  REV.  HO  RATI  US  BONAR,  D.D., 

BEING  HIS  LAST  SERMON. 


Sermon. 

By  the  Rev.  IIoratius  Bonar,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

*  *  But  as  the  days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man  be.  For  as  in  the  days  that  -vere  before  the  flood  they  were  I  I 
and  drinking,  marrying-  and  giving-  in  marriage,  until  the  day  thai 
Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and  knnu  net  until  the  flood  came,  and  took 
them  all  a-oay  ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  :e."— Matt. 
xxiv.  37-39- 

HE  who  is  "the  faithful  and  true  witness,"  even  the 
Son  of  God,  who  came  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth, 
gave  testimony  here  concerning  our  world  that  most 
deeply  concerns  us  all,  and  that  more  and  more  as  the 
ages  roll  away  ;  and  this  testimony  is  for  our  warning. 
He  selects  two  eras,  two  epochs,  two  periods,  specially. 
These  two  periods  are  "  the  days  of  Noah,"  and  "  the 
days  of  the  Son  of  man."  He  places  them  before  us, 
just  as  He  did  before  the  men  of  His  day.  Mark 
what  these  periods  arc.  They  are  not  eras  of  light, 
but  of  darkness.  They  are  eras  of  judgment  and  of 
terror.  He  selects  them  for  our  warning.  He  speaks 
this  truth  aloud  in  the  ears  of  a  careless  world,  which 
shuts  its  ears  against  everything  but  business,  vanity, 
and  pleasure.  He  tells  them  of  what  is  yet  before 
them,  even  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man.  "  In  the  days 
of  Noah," — that  is,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  years 
during  which  Noah  preached,  and  warned,  and  be- 
sought in  vain, — men  listened,  perhaps  were  interested 
for  a  while,  and  yet,  in  the  end,  were  utterly  heedless. 
Let  us  look  at  this  ;  let  us  see  what  the  Lord  means 
to  teach  us,  what  He  means  to  teach  the  Church  and 
the  world,  you  and  me. 


82 

Observe,  there  is  one  thing  that  runs  through  the 
whole ;  it  is  comprised  in  that  word  rejection — rejec- 
tion of  what  is  Divine,  of  what  is  supernatural, — rejec- 
tion of  the  things  of  God :  God  and  man  come  face 
to  face ;  and  man  says  to  God,  I  will  have  none  of 
you, — "  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us." 
It  is  a  rejection  which  involves  divers  points. 

First.  Here  we  have  in  both  cases, — in  the  case  of 
"  the  days  of  Noah,"  and  in  the  case  of  "  the  days  of 
the  Son  of  man  " — rejected  truth.  It  was  by  truth  that 
God  was  working  among  the  antediluvians  in  their  mad 
career  of  worldliness  and  corruption  ;  not  by  the  truth 
as  they  would  call  it,  but  like  the  truth  preached  by 
Jonah, — "Yet  forty  days,  and  Nineveh  shall  be  over- 
thrown." So  with  Noah, — "Yet  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years,  and  the  world  shall  be  overflowed  with 
water."  Here  again  was  rejected  truth ;  and  at  all 
times  we  find  it  is  Divine  truth, — supernatural, 
directly  from  God,  not  reasoned  out  by  man, — that  is 
rejected.  Men  are  willing  enough  to  receive  the 
conjectures,  philosophies,  and  sentiments  of  human 
device ;  but  a  message  directly  from  the  lips  of  Him 
who  made  them,  and  who  shall  be  their  judge,  they 
will  not  receive.  This  is  the  world's  condemnation. 
The  present  is  a  lying  age :  the  philosophy  of  this 
age  is  lying  ;  the  literature  of  this  age  is  lying.  This 
age  will  receive  anything  that  professes  to  be  truth, 
except  what  comes  from  God. 

Second.  It  is  not  merely  rejected  truth,  but  rejected 
grace.  The  message  is  not  merely  concerning  judg- 
ment, it  is  "the  exceeding  riches  of  the  grace  of  God," 
which  showed  the  Divine  willingness  to  spare  even  the 
world  in  spite  of  its  wickedness.  "  Grace !  grace ! '!" 
The    amount  of   meaning   contained   in   that  word 


83 

"  grace  "  !  It  is  by  grace  we  are  kept  even  for  a  single 
hour  out  of  hell.  We  little  realize  what  "grace"  means. 
It  is  the  source  of  whatever  flows  to  us  from  God. 
"God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  belicveth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  The  word 
"grace"  is  constantly  on  our  lips,  but  is  little  under- 
stood,— if  not  misunderstood,  and  abused  for  purposes 
of  sin.  "Grace!  grace!"  "Where  sin  abounded, 
grace  did  much  more  abound."  Amid  all  that  mass 
of  antediluvian  iniquity,  there  came  up  a  voice  from 
the  lips  of  God's  own  servant,  proclaiming  "Grace! 
grace  !  "  That  was  rejected,  and  the  world  went  down 
at  last  in  the  flood. 

Third.   Not  only  truth  and  grace,  but  /<>^r- 
rejected     This  means  more  than  grace — it  m 
grace  protracted,  for,  it  ma)-  be,  months,  and  years,  and 
God  is  unwilling  to  leave  the   sinner  alone  to 
perish.      He  is  continually  lifting  up   I  ;  the 

midst  of  this  ungodly  world.  Yea,  God  .swarc  by 
Himself — "  As  I  live  ...  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  d 
of  the  wicked  ;  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way 
and  live:  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways  ; 
why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?"  In  the  prospect 
of  the  coming  fl<  I  N  ah  would  point  to  the  ark  he 
was  building,  giving  repeated  warnings — "Turn  ye! 
turn  ye  !  "  But  turn  they  would  not.  They  rejected 
long-suffering.  It  was  not  simply  righteousness  that 
they  rejected  to  their  destruction.  They  rejected 
long-suffering  grace.  This  will  be  the  heaviest  part  of 
the  sinner's  eternal  ruin  ;  not  because  God  would  not 
be  reconciled  to  him,  but  because  he  would  not  be 
reconciled  to  God.  The  sinner  looked  that  loner- 
suffering  in  the  face,  and  said,  "  I  will  have  none  of  it." 


84 

But  there  is  one  thing  which  rises  above  all  these, 
— comprising  all,  but  yet  rising  above  them, — a  rejected 
person.  The  messenger  embodied  all  these  in  his  own 
person  and  message.  Noah  was  the  embodiment  of 
that  grace  in  all  its  long-suffering.  And  the  Son  of 
man  is  still  more  the  embodiment  of  Divine  grace 
— of  Divine  long-suffering.  The  Jews  rejected  Him. 
He  stood  as  one  full  of  compassion,  and  loving- 
kindness,  upon  their  own  hill,  looking  down  upon  their 
own  city,  weeping — "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, .  .  .  how 
often  WOULD  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together, 
even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 
and  ye  WOULD  NOT  ! "  "I  would,"  but  "  YE  WOULD 
NOT."  To  Jerusalem,  to  the  world,  to  us, "  I  WOULD  " — 
"YE  WOULD  NOT."  I  blessed — you  would  not  be 
blessed.  In  both  cases  there  is  the  rejection  of  a 
person.  The  rejection  of  an  ambassador  of  peace,  a 
royal  ambassador,  is  the  most  heinous  of  national 
crimes.  The  heavenly  ambassador  rejected  !  Noah 
was  only  a  man  ;  but  He  whom  they  saw,  heard,  and 
of  whose  hand  they  could  take  hold,  who  entreated 
them  to  turn  and  live,  and  whom  they  rejected,  was 
the  Lord — the  Lord  from  heaven. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  in  the  case  of  those  who  were 
lost  in  the  flood,  there  was  the  stinging  remembrance 
of  Noah's  words.  Those  words  would  come  back 
again,  and  again,  and  again  in  the  ears  of  those  lost 
souls — O  that  we  had  listened  to  the  message !  In  the 
case  of  those  who  have  rejected  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
O  think  how,  in  that  coming  eternity,  thoughts  of  past 
sermons,  warnings,  invitations,  and  messages  of  love, 
will  come  in  upon  the  memory  when  too  late ! 

All  this  is  to  come  suddenly  upon  an  unready 
world  that  shall  get  no  more  warning  than  what  it  has 


35 

had  already.  Xo  second  Sodom  and  Gomorrah !  no 
second  destruction  of  Jerusalem  !  "  Behold,  I  come 
as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth,  and  keepeth 
his  garments/1  In  an  hour  when  we  think  not,  the 
Son  of  man  comcth.  Gird  up  your  loins.  You  are 
living  far  too  like  the  world.  "Make  ready;"  for 
sudden  destruction  is  coming  upon  an  unready  world. 
11  In  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man 
cometh  " ! 


(N    ii..  — //I   an   indebted  to  tki  kin  Mr./.   Cameron  of  the 

.    .  .        ...      .  ] 


jf  t  a  o  i"  c  n  t 


A  SPE1 

FOR    THE  Ml  .  :/.££ 

AS  A  MINISTRY  »RIL  /SSS),  1 

T  DELTi 


jf  r  a  g  m  c  n  t 

IIai.i  -A-CENTURY  is  a  long  stretch  in  the  life  and 
work  of  a  minister,  whatever  that  life  or  work  may 
have  been.  It  contains  momentous  history,  of  which 
eternity  will  take  solemn  cognisance.  Filled  up  with 
shade  and  sunshine,  with  successes  and  disappoint- 
ments, with  useful  and  useless  days, — its  ten  thou 
mornings  and  evenings,  summers  and  winters,  have 
irrevocably  come  and  gone ;  and  in  estimating  its 
contents,  for  good  or  evil,  we  are  utterly  baffled.  God 
only  can  estimate  the 

Yet  we  cannot  shut  it  out  nor  refuse  to  contemplate 
it.  What  has  it  been  to  us,  and  what  has  it  been  to 
the  world  of  which  we  form  a  part? — these  are 
questions  which  must  be  put  and  answered.  In 
answering  them  we  require  calmness  and  honesty. 
Cheating  ourselves  with  false  reminiscences  or  with 
pretended  forgctfulncss  is  both  folly  and  peril.  Let 
memory,  as  it  wanders  over  past  days  and  scenes,  be 
impartial,  even  though  it  be  imperfect.  There  is  but 
one  memory  that  is  altogether  impartial  and  perfect, 
the  memory  of  the  righteous  Judge  of  all;  and,  what- 
ever be  the  failures  in  ours,  nothing  can  wipe  from  }\l> 
eternal  memory,  no,  not  one  word  that  has  ever  been 
spoken,  one  act  that  has  ever  been  done  upon  this  earth 
of  ours.  That  awful  memory  will  one  day  confront 
us, — that  memory  will  one  day  confound  us  with  its 
everlasting  accuracy,  laying  bare  all  deceptions,  and 
putting  to  endless  shame  all  save  those  who  have  taken 
refuge   under   that  unfailing  covenant,  of  which    the 


90 

bright  assurance  is,  "  Their  sins  and  their  iniquities  will 
I  remember  no  more." 

It  is  more  than  half-a-century  since  I  began  my 
work.  In  1831  a  few  students  united  together  to 
visit  a  district  in  the  High  Street  here,  which  visita- 
tion we  carried  on  till  we  became  preachers  and 
entered  on  regular  work.  Mr.  Lewis  (afterwards  Dr. 
Lewis),  of  Leith,  asked  me  to  take  the  mission  work 
in  his  parish.  He  organized  that  mission  well,  and 
inspired  his  fellow-workers  with  zeal  and  devotedness. 
The  district  which  he  allotted  to  me  had  a  population 
of  more  than  3000, — its  streets  and  lanes  were  amongst 
the  very  worst  in  the  town.  But  the  work  soon  be- 
came pleasant,  and  we  were  welcomed  even  by  the 
worst  and  wickedest.  My  commencement  was  of  a 
peculiar  kind.  Mr.  Lewis  had  secured  a  hall,  which 
held  about  200,  in  one  of  these  lanes ;  and  I  was  to 
occupy  it  every  Sabbath,  forenoon  and  afternoon,  with 
the  Sabbath  school  in  the  evening.  It  had  hitherto 
been  used  by  a  small  body  of  Roman  Catholics.  I  had 
scarcely  begun  the  forenoon  service,  when  the  door  was 
thrown  open,  and  a  furious  woman  walked  in,  shouting, 
"  My  curse  and  the  curse  of  God  be  upon  you."  But 
there  was  no  disturbance,  and  the  curse  did  not  come ; 
but  in  many  ways,  both  among  old  and  young,  the 
blessing  followed  us.  That  was  the  starting-point  of 
my  work  in  Leith. 

Through  the  energy  of  Dr.  Lewis,  numerous  Sabbath 
schools  were  set  on  foot,  and  a  band  of  devoted 
teachers  secured.  Two  of  these  I  think  I  ought  to 
mention — Dr.  Andrew  Bonar,  of  Glasgow,  and  Dr. 
Thomas  Smith,  of  the  New  College,  Edinburgh.  They 
were  two  of  my  most  efficient  teachers,  and  they  proved 
themselves  earnest  fellow-workmen. 


9i 

From  Lcith  I  went  to  Kelso,  in  November,  1837, 
from  which  my  jubilee  dates,  to  take  charge  of  the 
new  church  there.  I  found  there  plenty  of  work, 
plenty  of  workmen,  and  plenty  of  sympathy, — zealous 
elders,  zealous  teachers,  and  zealous  friends.  The  key- 
note which  I  struck  was,  "Ye  must  be  born  again  ;" 
and  that  message  found  its  way  into  many  hearts.  It 
repelled  some,  but  it  drew  many  together,  in  what  I 
may  call  the  bond  of  regeneration  ;  and  I  may  here 
ask,  Do  we,  with  sufficient  energy  and  point,  proclaim 
that  solemn  truth  with  which  our  Master's  ministry 
began,  and  without  which  all  religion  is  hollow  and 
superficial  ?  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot 
sec  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  "  and  may  not  the  feebleness 
and  want  of  success,  of  which  many  of  us  have  rt 
to  complain,  be  traced  to  a  lack  of  distinctness  and 
precision  in  our  announcement  of  this  momentous 
message?  Certainly  that  word  did  run  and 
glorified  ;  nor  had  I  ever  reason  to  regret  my  adoption 
of  this  Starting-point,  or  to  feel  that  I  had  made  a 
mistake  in  the  prominence  which  I  gave  to  that 
.solemn  and  searching  truth. 

Until  the  Disruption  came  I  had  no  access  to 
the  neighbouring  parishes,  but  after  that  I  found  open 
doors  and  open  cars  in  that  populous  district  among 
all  ranks  of  the  people.  Year  after  year  the  work 
grew  and  the  people  flocked  to  hear,  till,  finding  the 
work  too  great,  I  secured  the  services  of  our  dear 
friend,  Mr.  Stoddart,  who  laboured  with  amazing 
success  and  untiring  diligence  in  the  villages  and  farms 
around.  And  again,  as  the  work  continued  to  grow, 
I  found  it  needful  to  get  another  workman — our 
beloved  and  lamented  friend,  Mr.  Murray.  These  two 
were  truly  the  evangelists  of  the  Borders,  and  traversed 


92 

the  three  counties  of  Roxburgh,  Berwick,  and  Nor- 
thumberland, with  blessed  success;  and  the  fruit  of 
their  labours  remains  to  this  day  all  over  these  Borders. 

A  great  deal  of  the  good  work  done  in  that  district 
at  that  time  was  done  by  these  two  excellent  men,  so 
that  I  can  speak  the  more  freely  of  it,  and  bear 
testimony  to  the  wide-spread  blessing,  whole  villages 
being  awakened,  besides  many  stray  souls,  both  young 
and  old,  gathered  into  the  Church  of  God  from  various 
quarters. 

The  missionary  work  which  thus  went  on  for  ten  or 
twelve  years  was  of  the  most  striking  kind  ;  and  the 
journals  of  these  two  men  of  God,  in  that  wide  Border 
district,  would  furnish  narratives  which  the  Church 
would  rejoice  to  read.  Many  rebuffs  we  got,  many 
angry  letters,  many  threats  of  ecclesiastical  censure, 
much  experience  of  what  would  now  be  called 
"  boycotting;"  but  in  spite  of  all  this  the  work  went  on, 
good  was  returned  for  evil,  and  the  evangelists  found 
themselves  and  their  message  becoming  more  and 
more  acceptable. 

In  our  many  wanderings  by  Tweed  and  Teviot 
during  the  space  of  twenty-eight  years,  we  were  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  romantic  and  the  beautiful  ;  but 
we  met  no  steel-clad  warrior  of  the  Border,  and  were 
startled  by  no  bugle-horn.  Yet  we  did  not  miss  them  ; 
for  we  came  constantly  across  the  path  of  the  ambassa- 
dor of  peace  going  to  or  returning  from  some  village 
gathering  with  the  message  of  eternal  life  upon  his 
lips,  eager  to  tell  of  the  anxious  crowds  to  whom  he 
had  been  pointing  the  way  to  the  kingdom.  We  did 
not  miss  the  warrior  when  we  thus  met  the  messenger 
of  grace. 

In  June,  1866,  I  was  called  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  here 


93 

I  have  spent  twenty-two  chequered  years  of  my 
ministerial  life.  To  recall  its  events,  joyful  and 
sorrowful!  would  be  impossible.  God  has  been 
gracious,  and  has  not  disowned  the  work  and  the 
message.  Righteousness  without  works  to  the  sinner, 
simply  on  his  acceptance  of  the  divine  me- 
concerning  Jesus  and  His  sufficiency, — this  has  been 
the  burden  of  our  good  new-.  "Through  this  Man 
is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  by 
Him  all  that  believe  arc  justified  from  all  things."  It 
is  one  message,  one  gospel,  one  cross,  one  sacrifice, 
from  which  nothing  can  be  taken,  and  to  which  nothing 
can  be  added.  This  is  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the 
beginning  and  the  ending  of  our  mini-try.  Sad  and 
useless  must  be  the  ministry  of  any  one  to  whom  this 
gospel  in  its  simplicity  is  not  all  in  all. 

The  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  public 
opinion,  in  theological  speculation,  in  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  in  religious  sentiment,  in  spiritual  thought, 
in  conjectural  criticism,  in  the  value  attached  to 
belief  and  non-belief,  in  the  new  codes  of  hermeneuti- 
cal  law,  and  in  the  rejection  of  creeds,  and,  in  the 
refusal  of  any  guidance  or  control  save  those  of 
science  and  philosophy,  the  adoption  of  culture, 


"3n  flDe  ?e  sball  bave  peace." 

Long  days  and  nights  upon  this  restless  bed, 
Of  daily,  nightly  weariness  and  pain  ! — 

Yet  Thou  art  here,  my  ever-gracious  Lord, 

Thy  well-known  voice  speaks  not  to  me  in  vain : — 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

The  darkness  seemeth  long,  and  even  the  light 
No  respite  brings  with  it,  no  soothing  rest 

For  this  worn  frame ;  yet  in  the  midst  of  all 
Thy  love  revives.     Father,  Thy  will  is  best. 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

Sleep  cometh  not,  when  most  I  seem  to  need 
Its  kindly  balm.     O  Father,  be  to  me 

Better  than  sleep ;  and  let  these  sleepless  hours 
Be  hours  of  blessed  fellowship  with  Thee. 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

Not  always  seen  the  wisdom  and  the  love ; 

And  sometimes  hard  to  be  believed,  when  pain 
Wrestles  with  faith,  and  almost  overcomes. 

Yet  even  in  conflict  Thy  sure  words  sustain  : — 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

Father,  the  flesh  is  weak ;  fain  would  I  rise 
Above  its  weakness  into  things  unseen. 

Lift  Thou  me  up ;  give  me  the  open  ear, 

To  hear  the  voice  that  speaketh  from  within  : — 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

Father,  the  hour  is  come ;  the  hour  when  I 
Shall  with  these  fading  eyes  behold  Thy  face : 

And  drink  in  all  the  fulness  of  Thy  love ; — 

Till  then,  oh,  speak  to  me  Thy  words  of  grace  : — 
"  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace  "  ! 

Note.— This  Poem  was  found  among  Dr.  Bonar's  papers  after  his  death. 


Bote 


ON  DR.  >  PR  01  'HE  TIC  A  L   VIE  1 1  '.V, 

THE 

REV.  JOHN  JAMES  B-ONAR,  D..  .NOCK. 


IHotc 

On  Dr.  Bonak's  Prophetical  Views. 

It  is  almost  certain  that  when  a  student  Dr.  Bonar 
had  in  some  measure  looked  into  the  various  sub 
connected  with  Eschatology,  and  even  had  made  up 
his  mind  on  the  topics  bearing  on  "Prc-millcnarian- 
ism."  It  was  not,  however,  apparently  till  later  that 
he  examined  the  august  theory  in  such  a  manner  as 
revealed  it  to  him  in  all  its  fulness  and  grandeur,  and 
made  it  nothing  less  than  the  pivot  on  which  his 
spiritual  life  ever  afterwards  revolved.  We  may 
scarcely  be  warranted  in  alleging  that  it  was  Irving 
who  gave  his  mind  its  direction  and  impulse  in  regard 
to  this  matter  ;  but  the  influence  of  this  interpreter, 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  was  very  great.  The  minister 
<>f  Regent  Square,  London,  delivered  three  scries  of 
public  lectures  on  "Unfulfilled  Prophecy,"  in  several 
churches  of  Edinburgh — St.  Andrew's,  St.  Cuthbcrt's, 
and   Hope  Park,  in  the  yea:  ;,  and    1S30; 

and  sought  to  open  up  the  Apocalypse  of  John,  with 
its  symbols  and  visions  as  meant  to  discover  or  de- 
scribe Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  and  Heir  of  the  Father. 
These  Expositions  were  given  at  an  early  hour  of  the 
morning, — some  of  them  at  six  o'clock.  He,  who 
broke  in  upon  the  grievous  silence  of  the  Church  at 
this  time,  like  the  voice  of  Elias  raised  from  the  dead, 
thrilled  the  souls  of  many  thousands  ;  and  young  and 
old  hastened  to  ponder  the  things  which  were  to  be 
realized  upon  the  earth  ere  the  end  came.  Too  many 
scoffed  ;  not  a  few,  however,  accepted  the  me 
brought  by  the  earnest  servant  of  God  regarding  the 


98 

future  ;  and  among  these  was  Dr.  Bonar.  He  listened 
with  his  whole  heart  to  the  momentous  warnings 
thundered  out  in  the  ears  of  a  generation  more  dead 
than  drowsy. 

Upon  many  of  his  contemporaries  a  similar  impres- 
sion was  deeply  made,  and  the  destiny  of  our  world 
came  to  be  with  them  a  subject  of  daily  thought,  and 
gave  direction  to  their  studies.  The  twentieth  chapter 
of  the  Revelation  was  not  only  a  door  through  which 
they  looked  in  awe  to  descry  what  lay  beyond,  but 
it  was  the  Temple  where  they  saw  God  in  His  most 
august  majesty.  It  became  the  keynote  of  their  song,, 
the  keystone  of  their  system. 

Such  truths  had  been  held  in  the  early  Christian 
Church,  but  had  in  later  centuries  been  forgotten  ; 
and  though  revived  at  the  Reformation,  and  taught 
thereafter  for  a  time,  they  had  not  been  preached  in 
Scotland  for  at  least  a  century.  But  now,  with  all 
amplitude  and  emphasis,  Horatius  Bonar  and  others 
of  that  day  proclaimed  that  Christ  would  shine  out 
suddenly  from  amid  the  clouds  ;  that  the  saints  would 
then  hear  the  Archangel's  trumpet  and  leave  their 
graves  ;  that  Satan,  the  strong  man,  would  be  bound 
by  One  far  stronger,  and  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit ; 
that  the  earth,  and  all  that  appertains  to  it,  would  be 
set  on  fire  and  purified  ;  that  the  era  of  the  Resti- 
tution of  all  things  would  be  at  last  ushered  in,  and 
the  evils  of  the  Fall  redressed,  from  the  centre  to  the 
circumference  of  our  system.  In  the  twentieth  chap- 
ter of  the  Revelation  we  have  the  era  of  one  thousand 
years,  when  Christ  reigns  with  His  saints,  exhibited 
as  the  crisis  of  our  terrestrial  future,  followed  by  all 
the  stupendous  events  occurring  before  the  hour  of  the 
Great  Judgment  which  is  to  terminate  our  present 
economy.    This  is  the  state  of  things,  or  this  the  group- 


99 

ing  of  events,  to  which  we  give  the  name  Pre-millenari- 
anism.  Hitherto  it  had  been  generally  held  that  all 
these  events  and  revolutions  would  transpire  as  the 
heralds  of  Christ  Himself;  whereas  it  was  from  this  time 
announced,  and  dwelt  upon,  and  pressed  on  every 
man  that  first  of  all  Christ  would  return,  and  that  H'\> 
return  would  be  the  signal  of  all  else  that  we  consider 
as  lying  within  the  orbit  of  our  future. 

Prom  the  time  that  Dr.  Bonar  accepted  this  mode 
of  prophetic  interpretation  as  taught  by  Irving,  it  domi- 
nated and  complcxioned  all  his  views.  He  might 
not,  after  the  wave  of  excitement  passed,  find  a 
number  to  sympathize  and  side  with  him,  but, 
no  sooner  had  he  himself  taken  in  the  full  view  of  all 
that  is  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Second  Advent, 
than  it  became,  along  with  that  of  the  Incarnation 
and  the  Atonement,  an  essential  clement  and  well- 
Spring  of  his  inner  life. 

In  the  adoption  and  maintenance  of  this  creed,  Dr. 
Bonar  doubtless  had  to  endure  no  little  controvi 
but  all  these  discussions  were  conducted   by  him  with 
as  much  gentleness  as  learning,  and  his  opinions  calmly 

and  prayerfully  formed  were  to  him  as  much  a  matter 
of  personal  and  tenacious  conviction  in  1 889  as  in  1S2S. 
I  Ie  was  ever  ready  to  defend  and  illustrate  his  views  in 
separate  treatises,  such  as  his  "  Prophetical  Land- 
marks/1 and  his  "Coming  and  Kingdom  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  and  in  the  "Journal  of  Prophecy''  which 
he  edited.  He  nourished  his  soul  upon  the  blessed 
hope  of  Christ's  return,  and  the  fragrance  of  this 
thought  gave  richness  and  solemnity  and  elevation  to 
all  his  preaching  and  to  all  his  poetic  writings. 

The  following  extracts  are  among  his  latest  utter- 
ances on  prophetic  subjects,  and  show  how  he  adhered 
to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth  of  God. 


100 

At  the  Prophetical  Conference  at  Mildmay  in  March 
1879,*  he  said: — 

"  That  eminent  theologian  of  the  last  century — I  mean 
Jonathan  Edwards,  of  America — in  the  later  days  of  his 
ministry  recorded  in  his  diary  this  remarkable  experience  of 
his  own :  *  I  am  getting  vastly  more  charitable,  and  I  am 
getting  vastly  more  uncharitable,  in  my  declining  years.  So 
many  of  whom  I  had  but  little  hope  have  stood  well,  and  so 
many  of  whom  I  thought  I  had  every  hope  have  gone  back, 
that  I  am  getting  vastly  more  charitable,  and  I  am  getting 
vastly  more  uncharitable.' 

"Now,  I  apply  this  phrase  to  myself,  changing  the  word 
charitable  into  certain.  I  speak  of  course  my  own  experience 
in  this  matter.  I  compromise  no  one  except  myself  in 
saying  what  I  do.  I  am  getting,  after  fifty  years'  study  of 
prophetic  subjects,  vastly  more  certain,  and  vastly  more 
uncertain,  about  certain  things  in  this  blessed  book  of  pro- 
phecy ;  and  allow  me,  as  briefly  as  possible,  to  tell  you  both 
my  certainties  and  my  uncertainties,  and  you  will  see  how 
strictly  they  bear  upon  what  I  have  to  say  concerning  the 
Master's  testimony. 

"  I  feel  greatly  more  certain  as  to  the  Second  Coming  of 
the  Lord  being  His  Church's  true  hope;  that  is  the  first 
thing.  I  feel  greatly  more  certain,  as  the  years  roll  on,  regard- 
ing the  Pre-millennial  Advent  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  I  feel  greatly  more  certain  concerning  the  First 
Resurrection  and  the  Millennial  Reign  of  Christ.  I  feel 
greatly  more  certain  concerning  "the  Times  of  the  Restitu- 
tion of  all  things  spoken  of  by  all  the  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began.'  I  feel  greatly  more  certain  concerning 
*  the  New  Heavens  and  the  New  Earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness.'  I  feel  greatly  more  certain  in  reference  to 
Israel's  prospects  of  glory  in  the  latter  days,  after  they  have 
been  scattered  for  eighteen  hundred  years.     I  feel  greatly 

*  See  also  his  addresses  at  the  Conference  in  Feb.  1878,  pp.  13, 
128,  and  178. 


101 

more  certain  in  reference  to  the  doom  of  Antichrist,  what- 
ever that  name  may  include,  and  doubtless  it  includes  many 
things.  Regarding  these  things  which  I  have  thus  briefly 
enumerated,  and  on  which  I  should  have  liked  to  dwell  at 
length,  I  feel  the  power  of  a  demonstration-  the)  form  to 
me  a  demonstrated  creed. 

"Then,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  things  on  which  I  am 
more  uncertain  than  I  used  to  be.  I  thought,  thirty  or 
forty  years  ago,  that  I  had  studied  thoroughly  and  settled  a 
great  many  prophetic  questions  which  now  appear  unsettled. 
I  feel  very  uncertain  as  to  prophetic  dates,  even  the* 
which  I  used  to  re(  kon  most  surely.  I  feel  more  and  more 
rtain  as  to  the  various  f  Apocalyptic  interpre- 

tation. 1  confess  that  I  do  not  adhere  to  any  of  the  pro- 
phetic s<  hools.  I  am  still  a  learner  with  regard  to  the 
Apocalypse.  I  am  waiting  for  light,  and  I  believe  the  I 
Spirit  will  give  it;  and  that  ere  long,  it  may  be,  we  shall 
understand  that  marvellous  Hook,  which  the  Church  has 
age  after  age  tried  to  Comprehend,  yet  which,  I  believe, 
it  has  hitherto  failed,  in  a  great  measure,  to  unravel.  1 
also,  very  uncertain  as  to  the  details  :"  the 

relative  position  and  ord  ecially  with  n 

I  rael's  latter-day  history.  It  is  not  that  I  do  not  believe 
every  word  that  is  written  as  to  the  latter  days  of  that  nation  ; 
but  I  do  feel  at  a  loss  how  to  arrange  the  various  things 
which,  at  first  sight,  seem  to  conflict  the  one  with  the  other. 
I  feel  Uncertain  as  to  the  personages,  or  positions,  or  relation- 
ships, connected  with  the  following  names  which  figure  in 
the  prophetic  Word:— Babylon,  A  !om,  Elam,  Egypt, 

Amnion,  Moab,  Gog  and  Magog.  Cod  has  something  in  the 
future  for  all  these.  1  know  that  ;  but  I  confess  I  stop  there. 
I  am  not  able  to  say  more,  or  to  arrange  for  the  future  of 
these  ;  but  there  I  leave  them,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  ere 
long  we  shall  get  light  upon  them.  I  believe  the  event  will 
prove  that,  with  regard  to  every  one  of  these  which  I  have 
named,  the  Holy  Spirit  has  a  special  meaning  in  all  that  He- 
has  written  concerning  their  future. 
II 


102 

"  There  is  just  one  thing  in  connection  with  this  matter 
which  I  should  like  to  add,  and  it  is  with  regard  to  the  cer- 
tainties, for  it  applies  to  the  whole,  and  I  should  like  to  avow 
it  solemnly  in  these  days.  I  feel  a  vastly  greater  certainty, 
as  years  roll  on,  with  regard  to  the  Divine  authority  and 
verbal  inspiration  of  the  Word  of  God.  If  ever,  as  to  these 
points,  a  doubt  has  passed  through  my  mind  with  respect  to 
this  Book,  that  doubt  has  disappeared.  And  then,  in  con- 
nection with  this,  I  feel  greater  and  greater  certainty  as  to 
the  literal  interpretation  of  the  whole  Word  of  God,  historical, 
doctrinal,  and  prophetical.  Literal,  if  possible,  is,  I 
believe,  the  only  maxim  that  will  carry  you  right  through 
the  Word  of  God,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Conference  held  in  March  1886,  to 
which  he  was  unable  to  go,  on  account  of  illness,  he  wrote 
as  follows : — 

"I  know  not  but  that  this  may  be  my  last  opportunity  of 
bearing  witness  to  the  much-forgotten  doctrine  which  was  so 
specially  given  to  the  Church  as  her  blessed  hope,  and  I 
wish  to  say  how  increasingly  important  that  doctrine  seems 
to  me  to  become  as  the  ages  are  running  to  their  close,  and 
the  power  of  the  great  adversary  is  unfolding  itself  both  in 
the  Church  and  in  the  World. 

" ( Let  us  not  sleep,  as  do  others ;  but  let  us  watch  and  be 
sober.'  The  awful  winding  up  may  be  nearer  than  we  think. 
c  The  harvest  of  the  earth '  is  ripe ;  and,  as  for  '  the  clusters 
of  the  vine  of  the  earth,'  are  they  not  long  since  ■  fully  ripe '  ? 
and  is  it  not  the  great  long-suffering  of  God  suspending  the 
execution  of  wrath,  long  since  overdue,  that  has  stayed  the 
vials  of  vengeance  ? 

"  The  Patmos  message  of  our  great  King  and  Lord  is  still 
sounding  in  the  ear  of  the  Church,  'He  which  testifieth 
these  things  saith,  Surely  I  come  quickly.'  Shall  she  not 
speak  loudly  out  her  responsive,  '  Amen !  even  so,  comer 
Lord  Jesus'?" 


Xist  of  Writings 


BY  DA'.    HO  RATI  US  BONA  A'. 


Xiet  of  Writings  t>£  2>r,  Tboratius  Bonar* 


Note. — This  list  has  been  made  as  complete  as  possible  ;  but  it  will  be 
a   favour  if  any  omissions  are  communicated  to  the  Publishers. 
Those  marked  *  have  been  translated  into  French,  2  into  German,  - 
3  into  Gaelic.     It  has  not  been  found  possible  to  give  a  complete 
list  of  works  translated.     

Published  by 
Messrs.  JAMES  NISBET  &  CO.,  London. 

The  Door  of  the  Closet  Shut ;  or,  Prayer  and  Fasting  the 
Church's  Hope  of  a  Revival :  being  the  First  Sermon 
preached  by  Dr.  Bonar  as  Minister  at  Kelso,  3rd  Decem- 
ber 1837.  Published  in  volume  commemorative  of  the 
Opening  of  the  North  Parish  Church,  Kelso.  i2mo. 
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of  God.1     i6mo.     1845. 

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The  Land  of  Promise:  Notes  of  a  Spring  Journey  from 
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105 

Follow  the  Lamb ;  or,  Words  of  Counsel  to  New  Converts. 
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Way  of  1  Book  for  the  Anxious.1  -'  :     i6mo, 

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181 
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i.S64. 

and    Nights    in  the  East;    or,  Illustrations  of  Bible 
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I.     The  Old  Testament     186S. 
II.     The*  1S69. 

ill.    'I  1869b 

IV.      T:  ls70- 

V.    The  K< -v.  latioo  1  f  St  J"hn.     if 
Life  of  Rev,  John  Milne,  of  Pertl  .    O  1869. 

The  Song  of  1  tion,  and  othe  Crown 

Svm.       , 

The  Everlasting  Right  shall  Man  be  ]     I 

with  God?      Crown 

The  ( Ihrist  of  God     (  town  8va     1874. 

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<  'vation.     Bva      1 

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'85 

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ds  to  Winners  of  Souls.-      i6mo.      1 S 7  7 . 
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1S79. 
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Mission,     Sermon  at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  G.  T. 

Dodds,  15th  May,  1879.     i6mo.     1SS0. 


io6 

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Memoir  of  Rev.  G.  T.  Dodds,  of  Paris.     Crown  8vo.     1884. 

Hours  of  Christian  Devotion.  By  Tholuck.  With  Preface 
by  Dr.  Bonar.     Post  8vo.     1853. 

Messages  of  Grace :  Readings,  in  Large  Type,  for  the  Sick  and 
Aged.    Selected  by  Dr.  Bonar.     2  vols.    Post  8vo.     1859. 

Lyra  Consolationis.  Selected  by  Dr.  Bonar.  Fscp.  8vo. 
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Words  Old  and  New:  Gems  of  Christian  Authorship. 
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A  Missionary  of  the  Apostolic  School :  being  Life  of  Dr, 
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Lays  of  the  Holy  Land.  Selected  by  Dr.  Bonar.  Medium 
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Awake !     Pp.  32.     n.d. 

A  New  Year's  Message  to  all  Unconverted  Children.     Pp.  8. 

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Behold,  I  Make  all  Things  New.     Pp.  6$.     1855. 
Christ  the  Cleanser.     Pp.  32.     n.d. 
Come  Boldly ;  or,  The  Throne  of  Grace.     Pp.  64.     1861. 
Cry  Mightily.     Pp.  4.     1857. 

Earth's  Thirst  and  Heaven's  Water  Springs.  Pp.  48.  i860. 
Faint  Not;  or,  Tribulation  and  its  Blessings. 2  Pp.  64.  i860. 
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1873. 
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Kept  from  Falling.     Pp.  32.     n.d. 
Know  the  Lord.     Pp.  32.     n.d. 
My  Own  Work.     Pp.  32.     1858. 
Quench  not  the  Spirit.     Pp.  32.     1861. 


107 


Service,  and  the  Strength  for  it.     Pp.  64.     1S59. 

The  Banished  One  bearing  our  Banishment.     Pp.  16. 

The  Blessed  Man.     Pp.  64.     1S61. 

The  Blood  of  the  Covenant.      Pp.  32.      1S76. 

The  Cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus.      Pp.  32.     N.i>. 

The  Divine  Banquet     Pp.  32.     n.d. 

The  Righteousness  of  God     l'p.  32.     n.d. 

The  Sight  of  Jesus  the  Cure  of  Doubt.      Pp. 

The  Sin  of  our  Holy  Things  borne  by  Christ. 

Tin-  Faithful  Minister  of  the  New  Covenant 

The  Grace,  the  ind  the  Kingdom. 

The  Light  in  the  Dark  Place      Pp.  32.     N.i' 

The  Manifold  Grace  of  Cod.     Pp.  48,     iS 

and  See.      Pp.  32.       1 

Time's  Hope-.     Pp,  18.     it 

Time's  Joys.      Pp. 

Time's  Sorrow    :     \   N     .     , 

Turn  Ye,  Turn  Yc      Pp.  32.      N.D. 

Wherewith  shall  I  come?     Pp.  32.     1 

Which?  The  Mortal  01  the  Immortal.      Pp 

Words  of  P<  ace.     Pp.  64.     1  ^55- 

Words  of  Welcome.     Pp.  64.     1 


1S75- 


32.   N.D. 

Pp.  44- 


1S51. 
1851. 
1S52. 


1S58. 


3« 


Mi  I.  II.  RUTHERF1 

Ki.i     ■    1  •  be   iGmo. 

■ditod  by  Dr.  I'oD&r,  and  th*  following  were  written 

by  him  :  — 


The  Well  of  Living  Water.     I 
Believe  and  Live.**  Pp.12.  1839. 
Words  of  Warning.     Pp.  4. 

Electing  Love.      l'p.  4. 

TheWhiteKMl.es.      Pp.  S.      1840. 

Luther's  Conversion.      1 

Sin    our    Enemy,    and    God    our 

Friend.      Pp.  4. 
The  Lord's  Supper.     Pp.  12. 

:  go  to  the  Prayer-Meeting? 

Pp.  4. 


Behold  He  Cometh  with  Clouds. 
Pp.  4.     I 

God's  Unspeakable  Gift,  the  Sin- 
ner's Pledge  and  I'l-  I  i  ewy 
u      1842. 

Salvation  to  the  Uttermost.     Pp. 

12.       1S43. 

.The  Love  of  the  Spirit.  Pp.  12. 
1843. 

ball  dwell  with  the  Devour- 
ing Lire?     Pp.  4.      1 S43. 


:o8 


Righteous  Reconciliation.     Pp.  8. 
The   Throne  of  Grace.     Pp.    12. 

1844. 
The  True  Heart.     Pp.  4.     1844. 
Without  God.     Pp.  4.     1844. 
The   False    Peace  and  the  True. 

Pp.  4.     1844. 
God's  Purpose  of  Grace.     Pp.  12. 

1845. 
The  Chosen  One.     Pp.  8. 
The  Last  Time.     Pp.  4.     1845. 
The  Sin-Bearer.     Pp.  12.     1845. 
The  Power  of  the  Gospel.     Pp.  12. 

1845. 


Tribulation.     Pp.  12.     1846. 
Grace  and  Glory.     Pp.  12.     1846.. 
Everlasting  Life.     Pp.  12. 
Satan's  Devices  to  Keep  Men  from 

Christ.     Pp.  4. 
God's  Last  Message  to  the  World. 

Pp.  12. 
Ask,  and  it  shall  be  Given.    Pp.  4. 
Arise,  and  Call  on  thy  God.    Pp.  12. 
The  Night  Cometh.     Pp.  12. 
Time's  Messages.     Pp.  8. 
Assurance.     Pp.  12. 
To  Whom  do  you  Pray  ?     Pp.  4. 
Redeem  the  Time.     Pp.  4. 


With 


With 


The  Spirit's  Teaching:  being  a  Short  Account  of  John  Ross. 
Pp.  32.     1842. 

The  Blood  of  the  Cross.     161110.     1849. 

The  Coming  and  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Crown  8vo.     1849. 

Songs  of  the  Wilderness.     32mo.     n.d. 

Grace  Reigning  in  Election.     By  Abraham  Booth. 
Preface  by  Dr.  Bonar.     Pp.  64.     1 844. 

History  of  Revivals  of  Religion.     By  J.  Gillies,  D.D. 

Preface,  Additions,  and  Index,  by  Dr.  Bonar.     1 845-1 847. 

A  Full  Christ  for  Empty  Sinners.  By  Rev.  W.  Romaine, 
A.M.      With  Preface,  by  Dr.  Bonar.     Pp.  64.     1846. 

Brief  Thoughts— (I.)  On  the  Gospel;  (II.)  On  the  Way  of 
Coming  to  Satisfaction  as  to  our  State  before  God;  (III.) 
On  Holding  the  Beginning  of  our  Confidence.  Edited, 
with  Notes,  by  Dr.  Bonar.  3  2  mo.  1847.  New  and 
Revised  Edition.     1852. 

Looking  to  the  Cross.  By  William  Cudworth.  With  Pre- 
face and  Notes  by  Dr.  Bonar.     321110.     1850. 

Christ  is  All,  and  Saving  Faith  Discovered.  By  Thomas 
Wilcox.      With  Preface  and  Notes  by  Dr.  Bonar.     1855. 

Hymns  for  Schools.     Selected  by  Dr.  Bonar.     n.d. 

The  Song  of  Songs,  rendered  into  blank  verse.  By  Dr. 
Clarke.      With  Introduction  by  Dr.  Bonar.     1881. 


109 

W.  P.  KENNEDY,  Edinburgh. 

The  Bible  Hymn  Book.     Arranged  by  Dr.   Bonar.      1S45. 

Tracts  on  Prophecy.     Circa  1S45. 

Truth  and  Error;  or,    Letters  to  a   Friend  on  Some  of  the 

I    rotroversies  of  the  Day .     i6mo.     [846. 
Time's  Vanities.     321110.     J 'p.  16.     1 S54. 
Time's  Changes.     32010.     Pp.  16.     1 
Time's  Dreams.     32010.     Pp.  20.     n.i>. 


C.  ZIEI  :  oh. 

The  S<  hools  of  the  Prophets;  or,  Training  for  the 

1  mno.     Pp.  60.     1S44. 
Tlie  Way  of  Life  Explained  to  a  Child.      W.D. 


A.  LEADBETTER,  Kj 

'.0111:    an    Appeal    to  \ 
rmon  Preached  on  the  Evening         '     .    1;::..   1 
Pp.  40.     321110.     1  ^54- 


SOW. 

The  Ancient   Hope;  The  Servant  of  Sinners;  and   five- 
other  T: 

JOHN-!  HUNTER,  Edin 

Life  of  David    Brainerd.     By  Jonathan    Edward 
Preface  by  Dr.  Bonar.     Crown  Bvo.     1851. 

The   New  Jerusalem:  a  Hymn  of  the  Olden  Time. 
Preface  and  Notes  by  Dr,  Royal  i6mo.     1S52. 


JOHN  SN 
The  Good  Olive  Tree  :  a  Sermon  Preached  on  behalf  of  the 

r.ritish  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  Jews,  April  3rd,  1865.     Pp,  32. 


no 


JOHN  F.  SHAW  &  CO.,  London. 

The  Unwritten  Wonders   of  the   Grace   of  Christ.     32010. 
Pp.  35.     i860. 


HATCHARDS,  London. 

Christ  our  Example  in  His  Intercourse  with  the  World.  By- 
Caroline  Fry.  With  Preface  by  Dr.  Bonar.  32010. 
1878.  

ANDREW  STEVENSON,  Edinburgh. 

The  Gospel  of  the  Spirit's  Love.     {Re-edited  Kelso  Tract.) 

Pp.  48.     1 88 1. 
My  Life;   Do  I  accept  it?   If  so,  what  then?  Pp.  16.  1881. 
My  Name;  Do  I  accept  it?     If  so,  what  then?     Pp.  16. 

1882. 
The  Lord's  Supper.    {Re-edited  Kelso  Tract.)    Pp.36.    1882. 
The  Untrimmed  Lamp.     Pp.  16.     1884. 
One  Way  or  Many  Ways.     Which  is  It?     Pp.  16.     1885. 
The  Story  of  Belleville  and  the  Mission  to  the  Ouvriers  of 

Paris.     Demy  i6mo.     n.d. 


BLACKIE  &  SONS,  Glasgow. 

Imperial  Bible  Dictionary. 

The  following  articles : — Jehoshaphat   (Valley  of),  Jerusalem,  Joppa, 

Lebanon,   Palestine,    Sela,    Sharon,  Shittim,    Tabor,  Tabor   (Plain 

of),  Tomb,  Well,  

JOHN  MURRAY,  London. 

Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

The  following  articles  :— Siloam,  Siloam  (Tower  in),  Tophet. 


MACNIVEN  &  WALLACE,  Edinburgh. 

Our  Ministry:  Addresses  delivered  at  the  Opening  and 
Closing  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland.     1883.     Crown  8vo. 


Ill 


STIRLING  TRACT  ENTERPRISE 
(Drummond's). 

Be  Reconciled  to  God.     Pp.  3.     1S54. 

Guilt  and  Grace.     Pp.  8.     1854. 

The  First  Promise.      Pp.  8.      1855. 

The  New  and  Living  Way.     Leaflet.     1S54. 

The  Grace  of  Christ.     Leaflet.      1879. 

Consider.      Leaflet.      1880. 

Heavy  Laden.      Leaflet      1S80. 

Verily,  Verily.     Leaflet      1880. 

The  King's  King.     Pp.  32.     1885. 

In  Him  is  Life.     Pp.  32.     1S86. 

Make  Haste.      Pp.  ^2.      1886. 

Bruised  for  Our  Iniquities.     Pp.  32.     1SS4. 


IGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

The    Word  of  Promise:  a   Handbook    to    the  Promises  of 
Scripture.-'     Grown  Svo.      1 

God's  Glory  De<  lared  :  A  Sermon  on  behalf  of  the  R 

Tract  Society,  Preached  June  25th,   1877.      8VO, 

How  shall  1  >      I?  and  other  read  I  town  Svo. 

Pp.  96.      1SS1. 

Ti.  U. 

What  to  do  with  Sin.      Pp.12.      1S75. 

Instead  of  Me.      Pp  S.      1S75. 

A  Home  for  Eternity.     Pp  ^2.     Crown  iomo.      1SS1. 

The  Arrows  of  God.      Pp  4.      1SS1. 

What  the  Sinner  gets  in  Believing.     Pp.  4.      1SS1. 

Will  He  receive  Me?    Pp.  4-     1SS1. 

The  Resting  Place.     Pp.  j>2.     Crown  161110.      1SS2. 

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How  can  these  Things  be?     Pp.  4.     1SS2. 

The  Water  that  I  shall  give  Him.     Pp.  4.      1SS2. 

The  Gospel  which  I  Preached.     Pp.  4.     1SS2. 


112 

It  is  still  but  a  Block  of  Marble.     Pp.  4.     1882. 

At  that  Time,  ...  but  Now  !     Pp.  4.     1882. 

I  can't  Let  Go.     Pp.  8.     1883. 

He  is  our  Peace.     Pp.  8.     1883. 

How  shall  I  go  to  God  ?     Pp.  12.     1883. 

Save  the  Banner.     Pp.12.     Crown  i6mo.     1884. 

Be  Content  with  the  Good  News.     Pp.  20.     Crown  i6mo. 

1884. 
The  Promise  of  the  Father.     Pp.24.     Crown  i6mo.     1884. 
Why  should  I  die?     Pp.  12.     Crown  i6mo.     1884. 
The  Righteousness  of  Faith.     Pp.20.    Crown  i6mo.     1886. 
The  Widening  of  the  Strait  Gate.     Pp.  36.     Crown  i6mo. 

1887. 
The  Ages  to  Come.     Pp.  12.     Crown  i6mo.     1887. 
"Sunday  at  Home."  "Tract  Magazine." 

Hymns  of  the   Early  Church.  The  Eternal  Pendulum.     1883. 

1878. 
Belleville  and  its  Mission.  1879. 
Are  we  the  Ten  Tribes  ?     1 880. 
Until  the  Day  Break.     1883. 


MONTHLY  TRACT  SOCIETY,  London. 
Peace  with  God ;  The  Free  Gift  of  God ;  Man's  Need  and 
God's  Fulness.  

SCOTTISH  MONTHLY  VISITOR  TRACT  SOCIETY. 
Various  Tracts.     1 852-1 888.     43  in  all. 


Editor  of  the  following  Periodicals  : — 
The  Presbyterian  Review. 

This  was  published  between  1831-1848.     Dr.  Bonar  for  a  time 
acted  as  editor  and  wrote  many  articles. 
The  Quarterly  Journal  of  Prophecy.     1848-18 7 3. 
Christian  Treasury,  185 9-1 879.     Johnstone,  Hunter  &  Co., 

Edinburgh. 
The  Border  Watch.     1844-1848. 

Dr.  Bonar  wrote  many  articles  for  this  Periodical. 


1R  o  t  c 


CONCERNING  J 
TORPHICHRNl  AND  HIS  I  . 

MINIS'!  j 


Bote 

Concerning  John  Bonar,  Minister  of  Torphichen,  and  his 
Descendants  who  were  Ministers. 

30fon  3)50nart  b.  16th  Jan.  1671,  at  Wester  Kilgraston,  Perthshire, 
which  had  belonged  to  his  ancestors  for  upwards  of  a  century. 
Graduated  at  St.  Andrews,  25th  June  1689.  Ord.  minister  at  Tor- 
phichen, 2nd  March  1693.  D.  7th  Aug.  1747.  Amid  much 
opposition  he  adhered  throughout  life  to  the  religious  principles 
early  taught  him  by  his  godly  mother.  During  the  trying  period 
which  preceded  the  Revolution  of  1688,  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
Presbyterianism,  notwithstanding  ths  efforts  of  his  father  and  the 
principal  of  his  college  to  induce  him  to  become  an  Episcopalian. 
In  I7i2he  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  abjuration;  and  in  1721  he 
was  one  of  the  twelve  ministers  who  joined  in  a  representation  to 
the  General  Assembly  against  the  precipitate  censure  passed  on 
the  small  treatise,  entitled  "The  Marrow  of  Modern  Divinity." 
When  the  harsh  measures  were  agitated  in  1732  and  1733,  which 
finally  gave  rise  to  the  Secession,  he  was  zealous  in  defence  of  the 
censured  ministers,  though  he  deprecated  their  separating  from  the 
Church.  In  1742,  during  the  remarkable  revival  in  the  West  of 
Scotland,  though  old  and  feeble,  he  went  to  Cambuslang  to  see  the 
work  for  himself.  He  published  in  17 19  a  sermon  on  the  "Duty 
of  Giving,"  preached  at  Newhouse,  in  the  Parish  of  Livingstone ; 
and  in  1743  a  letter  on  the  "Duty  and  Advantage  of  Religious 
Societies."  He  was  a  devoted  minister,  earnest  and  simple  in  his 
declaration  of  the  truth. 

His  Son. 
3-Obtt  JBOliar,  b.  25th  July  1696.  Graduated  at  Edinburgh,  ist  April 
1 7 14.  Ord.  minister  at  Fetlar  and  North  Yell,  13th  Aug.  1729. 
D.  22nd  April  1752.  He  was  a  distinguished  classical,  and  Oriental 
scholar,  a  firm  and  decided  advocate  of  Gospel  truth ;  and  an  im- 
pressive preacher.     He  occasionally  wrote  poetical  compositions. 

His  Grandsons. 
3-Obtl  JBOtiar  (son  of  the  last  mentioned  John  Bonar),  b.  4th  Nov.  1722. 
Graduated  at  Edinburgh,  27th  April  1 742.  Ord.  minister  at  Cockpen, 
22nd  Aug.  1746.     Admitted  minister  of  second  charge,  Perth,  29th. 


H5 

July  1756.  D.  2istDeceml>er  1761.  He  relinquished  a  presentation 
to  Jedburgh  in  1756,  as  the  people  preferred  another  minister,  for  he 
would  not  intrude  into  a  charge  without  consent  of  the  congregation  ; 
he  also  declined  a  call  to  the  Scotch  Church,  Rotterdam,  in  1759. 
He  published  in  1750  "  Observations  on  the  Conduct  and  Character 
of  Judas  Iscariot  ";  in  1752  a  sermon  on  the  M  Nature  and  Neo 
of  a  Religious  Education";  in  1755  "Analysis  of  the  Moral  and 
Religious  Sentiments  contained  in  the  Writings  of  Sopho  (I 
Karnes)  and  David  Hume";  in  1760  a  sermon  on  the  "  Nature  and 
Tendency  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Constitution  of  Scotland.''  At  his 
death  he  was  writing  a  work  to  l>e  entitled  "  The  Example  ofTj 
Warning  to  Britain."  He  drew  up  in  1760,  by  request,  a  memorial 
as  to  the  institution  of  an  academy  in  Perth,  containing  a  scheme 
for  technical  education.  It  was  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in 
Scotland.  He  was  a  zealous  evangelical  preacher,  and  his  writings 
show  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  sup<-r 

30bll  JBOtinr  (ton  of  Andrew  B<«nar,  merchant  in  Edinburgh),  b.  1741, 
Graduated    B.A..  orden    in    the    Church    of   England,    and 

received  an  apjxjintment  as  Chaplain  in   the  ;..     I),  in 

i"  He  published  in    17-  I  »n  on   "The  Advantage  of 

the  Insular  Situation  of  ( ri  In." 

///    ( ireat  ■ grandson. 

BrcbibnID  JScnnr  (ton  of  Join  bckpenand  Perth),  1 

Feb.  1753.     Ord.  mini      1     I   N  wburn,  in   Fife,  31st  March  1779. 
Admitted  mi:  17th  July  I) 

Admitted  minister  of  Cramond,   2ist    April   17S5.      I 
1816.     In  1796  he  published  "Genuine  Religion  th<. 
Of  the    People";  in    1S00  a  sermon    preached  before  the  S 
for  the    Benefit   of  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy;  and  in   I S 1 5  a  volume 
moos.      A   leoood    volume   was    published   after  his  death. 
He  was  ■  man  of  "spiritual  ivorth  and  saintly  character,"  and  his 
preaching  Wai  able  and  evangelical. 

///    Grtat'grttU'i  mn 
30bll  JSOIlAt  (son  of  the  abort  Archibald  Bonar),  b.  26th  July  1S01. 
Ord.  minister  at  Larbert  and   Dunipace,  nth  July  1S26.     Joined 
the   Free   Church  of  Scotland    in    1S43.      Admitted    min 
Free    South  Church,  Aberdeen,  10th  December  1S46,  and  in  the 
same  year  appointed  Convener  of  Colonial  and  Continental  M 
Committee.     Admitted  minister  of  Renfield,  Glasgow,  16th  March 
1S4S,  which  charge  he  resigned,   22nd  June  1854,  and  thereafter 


u6 

devoted  himself  solely  to  the  duties  of  said  Convenership.  Received 
Degree  of  D.D.  from  Rutgers'  College,  U.S.A.,  2nd  July  1857. 
D.  20th  December  1863. 

50bn  5ameS  JBOtiar  (son  of  James  Bonar,  Second  Solicitor  of 
Excise,  Edinburgh,  who  was  a  man  of  varied  and  extensive  literary 
knowledge,  and  author  of  several  philological  treatises),  b.  25th 
March  1803.  Ord.  minister  of  St.  Andrew's  Parish,  Greenock,  20th 
August  1835.  Joined  the  Free  Church  in  1843.  Received  degree 
of  D.D.  from  Edinburgh  University,  20th  April  1883. 

IbOratlUS  JBOItaC  (son  of  the  last  mentioned  James  Bonar),  b.  19th 
December  1808.  Ord.  minister  of  North  Parish  Church,  Kelso, 
30th  Nov.  1837.  Joined  the  Free  Church  in  1843.  Received 
degree  of  D.D.  from  Aberdeen  University,  9th  April  1853. 
Admitted  minister  of  Chalmers  Memorial  Church,  Edinburgh,  7th 
June  1866.  Chosen  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Free  Church,  May  1883.     D.  31st  July  1889. 

TLnbieW  B.  ^SOtiar  (son  of  the  last  mentioned  James  Bonar),  b.  29th 
May,  1810.  Ord.  minister  of  Collace,  as  assistant  and  successor 
of  John  Rogers,  A.M.,  20th  September  1838.  Joined  the  Free 
Church  in  1843.  Admitted  minister  of  Finnieston,  Glasgow,  4th 
December  1856.  Received  degree  of  D.D.  from  Edinburgh 
University,  22nd  April  1874.  Chosen  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church,  May  1878. 

SllDreW  IReDmatt  JSOtiar  (son  of  James  Bonar,  Accountant  of 
Excise,  Edinburgh),  b.  28th  March  1818.  Ord.  minister  at  Fogo 
in  Berwickshire,  26th  Sept.  1843.  Admitted  minister  of  the  Second 
Charge,  Canongate  Parish,  Edinburgh,  13th  March  1845  »  an(^  of  the 
First  Charge  of  said  Parish,  28th  Nov.  1849.     D.  25th  Feb.  1867. 


Note. — There  are  several  others  of  the  name  of  Bonar  who  have  been 
ministers,  but  of  whose  connection  with  the  family  of  John  Bonar  of 
Torphichen  there  is  no  definite  information.  One  of  these  was  James 
Bonar,  who  graduated  at  St.  Andrews,  in  1601,  and  was  presented  to  the 
vicarage  of  Maybole,  1st  June  1614.  He  stood  by  the  side  of  Alexander 
Henderson  in  the  great  struggle  against  Prelacy,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  1638.  He  was  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1 644.  There  were  also  James  Bonnar,  Relief  Church, 
Auchtermuchty  (1 754-1 788),  Lawrence  Bonnar,  Relief  Church,  Cupar 
(1733-1825?),  and  James  Bonnar,  D.D.,  U.  P.  Church,  East  Kilbride 
(1818-). 


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